Adventures of the New Captain N
by cindybubbles
Summary: (Multiple Series/Games/Movie ... /etc. crossover) Mother Brain has found an ally in the real world, and a new era with new heroes begins! Chapters 6 - 10 now up!
1. New Kids in the Kingdom

Dark was the day after Mother Brain's defeat. Dr. Right had just perfected his interworldy camera and sent it through the Ultimate Warp Zone to capture what went on in Kevin's home. He had bad news. 

"I'm afraid I have bad news," he told Kevin one day while he had breakfast. The other N Team members huddled around him to hear the bad news. 

"What is it?" Kevin asked. But before he could answer, Mega Man jumped in, and soon, the others followed. 

"Is it Dr. Wily again?" he asked. 

"Is it Mother Brain-icus?" 

"Is it Lyle? Is it my father?" 

"Is it the Count? Is it my hair? My face? I hope it's not pimples again!" 

"I wish it WERE pimples, but it's not. I'll show you here," Dr. Right produced a small TV that connected to the camera in Kevin's home. The others gasped. Kevin paled. 

The camera showed his mother, Mrs. Keene, in the hospital. Since it also captured sound. the team could hear what the doctors said. There were two present with the mother. 

"It looks like a car accident," said the female doctor. 

"Lots of blood loss, but not life-threatening. However, it looks as though Mrs. Keene may not make it through," responded the male doctor. 

"Severe depression?" 

"That, and heartbreak." 

"She hasn't seen her son in years, or so her husband has reported." 

"Comatose, too," Then, "Marlene, it's time for another one of her surgeries." 

"OK, Peter." Then Peter and Marlene heaved Mrs. Keene on a stretcher and wheeled her out of the room. That's when Dr. Right turned off the TV. 

"My mother...," Kevin whispered, "my mother, she could be dying!" Then he faced the crowd and told them the really bad news: "I have to go home. I have to be there for her." 

Everyone was crestfallen. No leader could mean no N Team. Lana knew it would also mean no boyfriend for her. She turned to Dr. Right. 

"What if it's a trap again? Remember the last time Kevin went home, and Mother Brain took over!" 

"I know that time he was fooled. We all were fooled then. But this time it's for real. I can feel it. If he doesn't go home, his mother could die." 

"I have no choice, then," Kevin responded, " but what about Duke? He'll have to go, too." 

"Whether Duke goes or not is up to him to decide. Because this time, you have no say in what he does, like you always did before," the doctor told him. Then he paused and said, " Why don't you let him take his time deciding? Duke may be your faithful dog, but that doesn't mean he will follow you and leave HIS friends behind." 

"Sure, why not? I guess I should be packing now." 

"I have a bad feeling about this," Lana announced. 

"I think it's good news he's leaving!" boasted Simon. 

Kevin got up and left the kitchen, muttering "I don't want to hear any more about this," under his breath. As soon as Kevin left, Lana strode over to where Simon was standing and slapped him hard in the face with her left hand. He winced, covering his right cheek as though Lana slashed it with a knife. 

"Ow! My cheek!" Simon shouted, as he doubled over onto a chair. 

"You deserved it, Simon, for saying something that mean, cruel and STUPID like THAT to our one and only CAPTAIN N!!" 

Simon said nothing more. He slouched deeper into the chair and began to mope. Mega Man and Kid Icarus headed for the Control Room to monitor the Palace via surveillance cameras. Dr. Right and Gameboy followed them. Lana then scowled at Simon. 

"I hope you're happy, Simon Belmont. You've just disrupted the entire team! I only hope for everyone's sake that that was nothing but a setback! I don't want the team to fall apart just because YOU said something as STUPID as you did back there!" Lana screamed all that to the vampire hunter, who was shocked at her fury. "I'm going to find Kevin and talk to him about this whole thing. And as for YOU, you've done enough!" She stormed out of the kitchen, leaving Simon even more mopey and majorly embarrassed. 

* * *

"Are you okay?" Lana asked Kevin the moment she entered the room he shared with Simon. She found him lying on his bed, and he appeared to be sleeping, but as she came closer, he was spaced-out, muttering incomprehensible stuff. Lana shook him, and he snapped out of his trance. "I said, 'are you okay?'" Lana asked him again. Kevin sat up. 

"Fine," he muttered. He was obviously hurt. Duke followed her into the room and barked. "Hi, boy," was Kevin's response. 

"What Simon said, he was just joking because ---" 

"Because he's jealous of me?" Kevin jumped up from the bed and paced around Lana. "Come on, Lana! He doesn't have a mother in the hospital. HIS mom isn't dying! We saw her last week back in Castlevania! I hope he's happy with what he said about me, because I'm not!" 

The two teenagers were now standing. Kevin paced around like a Fifties father, worried about his pregnant wife labouring with their child. Lana stood near his bed, hands on hips and looking cross. 

"Maybe Simon is jealous of you, but he's just as hurt and angry at the news as you are! I know Simon Belmont has a reputation to keep, but even you should know he likes you! He just won't admit the fact that your leaving really bothers him." 

"SURE it does! How many times has Simon put me down with his stupid jokes? Let me see, how about my first day here? He came up with a lot of stuff! 'The Ultimate Wimp'! 'Mr. Lame Master'!" He then repeatedly stomped his right foot while saying this: "I am not exactly Game Master material according to him!" 

"I know it has been hard for you, Kevin, but think of all the things that Simon has done for you. Remember the time he saved you from that quicksand in the Bayou? He risked getting dirty to save your life!" 

"He did?" 

"Yes, he did!" 

"I forgot about that. Never mind, in a few minutes, I'll forget about everything here." 

"Not to worry," Lana assured Kevin. "I got that covered. If you ever return here, we'll restore your memories." 

"Thanks, that means a lot to me," Kevin replied, warmly. The teenagers packed his things and headed to the Throne Room. 

* * *

At the Throne Room, everyone was waiting. Link, Zelda, Lyle and Mayor Squaresley all attended the event. Several others were waiting outside the room, and many others lined up outside the Palace to say their good-byes. Lana addressed them all. 

"Today is a very sad, yet momentous occasion. For this is your last chance to see Captain N before he goes home. For us, he has been a very good friend, and very dear to me, personally speaking. I encourage you all now to come forth and say your final good-byes to Kevin Keene, Captain N, The Game Master, and defeater of Mother Brain! The Princess has spoken!" 

Everyone gathered around Captain N to say their good-byes. What could he say? Kevin was speechless. You just don't go and say bye, that's it, do you? He had no choice. His bags are packed, with Duke at his side. He turned to Duke. 

"You ready to go, boy?" he asked Duke. Duke said nothing. Kevin knew he would miss his friends, yet he knew Duke would follow him wherever he went. That was why Duke said nothing this time. 

"I know, boy, you miss your friends." 

Then the Ultimate Warp Zone opened. Lana motioned to Kevin and Duke. "Well, time to go," she told him. 

"Yeah," he answered. Then Dr. Right burst into the room. He had not been with them that time. 

"I have more bad news. I hate being the bearer of bad news!" he exclaimed, between puffs. 

"What is it?" they all yelled. 

"Well, I've researched the Ultimate Warp Zone. Ever since Kevin and Duke came to Videoland ...." 

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked him. 

"Ever since you both came to Videoland, the Ultimate Warp Zone has become very unstable. It now has the strength to send _one_ living being back, before it collapses forever!" 

"Oh, no! Duke will have to stay with us!" Lana cried. 

"Not a whole lifetime with that mangy mutt!" Simon complained. 

"No! I'll stay!" Kevin called out. 

"But you mega-can't. Captain N," Mega Man explained, "What about your mother? She's dying, isn't she?" 

"Oh, no, my mom!" Kevin cried, "I don't know what to do! My mother, ... but Duke, what about him?" 

"Ask him." was Kid Icarus's reply. 

Lana kneeled down to Duke's eye level and asked him, "Well, Duke, will you stay with us, or go? We'll take care of you really well if you stay. You know the situation is tense, so it's your choice." 

Duke hesitated, but the Ultimate Warp Zone was about to close. Everyone saw it. Lana ran towards him, and Duke, having made up his mind, ran to Lana's side. Kevin's heart sank. 

"Well, boy, it looks like it's goodbye." He advanced towards the warp and stood there. "I'm going to miss you all," he said to the crowd outside. They cried. Lana rushed to him and they kissed. 

"The warp's closing! It could be gone now!" Simon shouted. Kevin and Lana kissed for two whole minutes before he said this. They were still kissing, and Simone attempted to yank him away, but he let go of her. Still holding him, Simon thrust Kevin at Duke for one last pat, then without warning, Link helped him prepare Kevin for the warp. Link had his left side, Simon, his right. 

"In 10 seconds, the warp will close for good!" Link explained. 

"Okay! Everyone say 'Good-bye, Captain N' on the count of three!" Lana addressed everyone. Then she turned to Kevin and said, "I'm sorry it has to be this way, but the warp's closing, and ..." 

"I know. Good-bye, Princess Lana." 

"Good-bye, Kevin, Captain N. I'll never forget you." Then the counting started. 

"One!" 

"The warp!" Zelda screamed. 

"Two!" 

"Duke!" Kevin yelled. 

"Three!" 

"Good-bye, boy!" Kevin screamed. 

"Good-bye, Captain N!" 

"Whoaaaa!" Link and Simon thrust him through the warp just before it closed. Then there was rumbling as the warp collapsed. 

"Good-bye, Captain N," Lana whispered. 

* * *

Six years later ... 

"I can't find my accelerator, Dexter!" Dr. Right spoke into a viewer to a black-haired geek with huge black glasses and a lab coat. 

"I don't know what else I can think of, Dr. Right!" answered Dexter in an Urkel-like voice. He was on the other side of the viewer. He was real-life on his side of the screen, with black-framed glasses perched on his nose. Dexter Washington had big, bright green eyes that matched with his green sweater underneath his lab coat. He was also worried about his friend, Dr. Right. "We need both accelerators so we can reopen the Ultimate Warp Zone!" 

"I know that! We must hurry, before your rival Angela can reactivate Mother Brain! I need you here in Videoland so we can create the virus together, Dexter!" Dr. Right yelled. Then he tripped over something. It was his accelerator. "I found my accelerator!" 

"Great! Let's start now!" 

As the two scientist hooked up both accelerators to their portal devices and turned them on, a pair of energy hands emerged from Dexter's side. Quickly, he grabbed the disk with the virus inside before he was sucked in. The device closed the warp. 

The young student found himself on the floor of a cartoon lab. Yet Dexter wasn't fazed at all. He had seen Dr. Right as a cartoon, and expected himself to be one when he entered the warp. He still had the virus, and that was a relief. He was, on the other hand, surprised that he had a big nose. "Dr. Right!" he exclaimed as the scientist emerged from behind. 

"Quite a ride, wasn't it, my young friend?" 

"Yeah, I got the disk!" 

"Excellent! Let's go tell the Queen first, before we do anything." 

"I'm with you!" 

* * *

Back at the Palace of Power, Queen Lana paced around for Dr. Right's report. The Resistance was building, and she already anticipated a full-out attack on the Palace by them and their allies. Lana heard about Angela trying to reactivate Mother Brain, and about how Dr. Right stumbled upon a young hacker, who happened to be Angela's rival, and how both found a way to reopen the Ultimate Warp Zone. 

She wore a blue Japanese kimono, her hair in a bun, and a queen's crown with emeralds instead of her tiara. She had taken to peace and yoga three years ago, when the Resistance first attacked. A much stronger woman now, Queen Lana holds her own, if not for the memory of her boyfriend, Kevin, then for her supporters and friends. She picked up a picture of her, Kevin, Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li at the park in Shadaloo, and cried. 

"Ken, Ken, Ken ... how could you do this to me? To all of Videoland?" she whispered. Ken Masters was the leader of the Resistance now. How could he? "Leader of the Resistance! You traitor!" she yelled, hurling the picture towards the viewer, breaking the glass. At that instant the viewer came on. It was Dr. Right. 

"Dr. Right! Oh, dear, now I made a mess of the floor! What more could go wrong?" 

"Correction, Your Majesty. What more could go RIGHT?" said Dr. Right. 

"You have the virus?" 

"And the young fella that created it, yes, my queen." 

"Good. Whenever you're ready, put in the virus and send it through the connections to Aino's computer. Hurry, though! We haven't much time!" the queen ordered. 

"Good, we're sending it now," Dexter came on the screen. He put in the virus and punched in some numbers. "The virus is set and sent. If my calculations are correct, Angela Aino will be at her desk just about ... now!" 

Lana sighed in relief. "Let's hope so! Then this nightmare will be over for good!" she replied. 

* * *

At NASA: 

Angela Aino sat at her desk. She tied her long black hair in a ponytail, and began to work. 

"Mother Brain, prepare to meet thy Saviour!" she muttered, as she began the connections. She punched in some numbers, and then the coomand: "Revive". But something was in the way. It was a virus. 

"Stupid viruses! Can't they infect something else?" Angela cried out, frustrated. "Oh, well, at least MY computer has a super anti-virus program, unlike that dweeby Dexter Washington!" Then she looked at the pattern of the virus. Definitely Dexter. "Dexter, Dexter, Dexter..." 

"We'll just see about that, Dexter...." Then she hit the "Repair" button on the screen with her mouse. Within seconds, the virus was gone. "Back to getting Mother Brain back," she whispered to the screen with a smile, and set to work, laughing evilly as she started the resurrection program. 

* * *

"Oh, no!" Dexter cried in horror,"She wiped out the virus! Now we're really in hot water!"

"Don't worry, Dexter," dr. Light told him, "I know of a way. We'll have to fight fire with fire! Dexter, contact your team and have them bring the six young warriors that you discussed with them at length. I'll try to bring back Captain N!" 

"Okay!" Dexter called, and spoke into the microphone, "Lonnie, I need you to call our recruits here! There's a big emergency, and we need them now! OK?" 

"Sure thing, Dex," Lonnie answered from the other side. "Okay, y'all, you know what to do! Just pass through this warp, it's already open, and Dexter will give you your orders there. Got it?" 

"Got it," said a blonde-haired woman. 

"Sure," a blonde young man replied. 

"A-OK!" yelled a Chinese girl. 

"Right on!" shouted a brown-haired man. 

"Understood," a black woman told Lonnie, who was white with red hair. 

"Yep!" chorused a girl with long brown hair. 

"GO!" Lonnie commanded, and all six young recruits jumped through the warp. 

"Dexter, they're here!" dr. Light shouted. Dexter ran to greet the six confused warriors. 

"Hi, I'm Dexter, and this is Dr. Light, my mentor. I know, you're probably wondering why you're here, and why you're cartoons. Well, you're in Videoland, and things are different here, so you'll have to get used to it. As your personal guide, it is my responsibility to know you very well. But first, I'll take your names and specialties. You?" He pointed to the blonde woman. 

"Armina Lafleur. I'd love a good fight any day, in a game, that is." 

"I'm sure you do, Armina," Dexter replied. "How about you, Mr. Surfer Dude?" 

"My name's Armand Lafleur. Armina's my twin sister, and I'm not a surfer. I do puzzles," answered the blonde man. 

"Carrie Wong," said the Chinese girl, "I bat 1000, scored 150 touchdowns, 200 baskets, 500 goals, 500 field goals, and I swim." 

"Alex Grande," replied the young man with the long brown hair. "I LOOOOOOOOOOVE CARS!" 

"Roberta Dimanno," the black woman announced, "I like role-playing games. And first-person shooters." 

"Sandra Tolera, at your service!" shouted the young brunette, "Adventure games are my idea of a great time!" 

"Great! I'll contact the Queen, then we'll get back Captain N!" Dexter shouted. 

"Who's Captain N?" asked Roberta, as Dexter dashed out of the lab. 

"Oh, you'll love him! He's the best player in the universe! Or so I was told," Dr. Right informed her. 

They waited a few minutes until the door opened. Out stepped Dexter, Queen Lana and another friend in green and gold armour. "This is Mega Man. He's agreed to help us battle Mother Brain again," Dexter announced. 

"Mother Brain?" everyone asked. Sandra gasped. 

"That evil brain on the game _Metroid?_" she asked. 

"Yes," replied the Queen. She told them the whold story about how Kevin came to Videoland and for three years led the N-Team to victory when Mother Brain was jailed in Baseball World. 

"Whoaaa!" was all they could say. 

"It's all set! The Warp zone is strong enough to carry one more person through! Let's hope it works!" Dexter shouted, and turned on the switch that opened the Warp Zone. Then everyone warped to the Throne Room and Lana summoned the warp by the Power Glove. And the Warp zone opened. 

* * *

Down on Yonge Street, in the Funland Arcade,a little black girl was playing "Marvel Superheroes vs. Capcom", using Ryu and Chun-Li against Onslaught. She had just won the fight, when the screen changed. The girl saw fourteen cartoon characters on the arcade screen huddled around a huge glove. Suddenly, lightning grabbed her small form, and, as she wrestled with it, sucked her through the screen. The black girl screamed as she tumbled through the warp zone, and into the room. 

* * *

"This is Captain N?" 

"You said the Cap'd be a guy!" 

"She looks rather young." 

These were the responses that everyone had once they saw the little black girl in a red plaid sundress, a black T-shirt, white socks, a white jacket, black shoes, and a Power Pad and a Zapper. "I'm Queen Lana of Videoland," Lana told her,"What's your name?" 

"Keisha Davenport," replied the girl, "Why am I here? I can't be here. Am I really a cartoon?" 

"Yes," Armina replied,"we all are here. I'm Armina, this is my brother Armand, this is Carrie, Alex, Roberta and Sandra. We're the Defenders of the Realms, and Dexter has assigned us to protect you and the Queen." She pointed to each and every person that she knew. 

"Can I go back? My brother, he scared if he knew I'm gone," Keisha asked the Queen. 

But instead of running to her room and crying, Lana assured her, "You're safe with us, Keisha, We'll look out for you, and help you defeat Mother Brain." 

"Mother Brain!?!?!" Fear coarsed through everyone's veins. 

"Yes, Mother Brain. She'll come to life soon, and it's your job to lead Videoland to victory." She told Keisha about the 3 years with Kevin Keene. 

"Wow," Keisha sighed. 

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot," Dexter told everyone. "See those belts you're wearing? Those contain your Power Pads and Zappers, and if you press this red button and say 'By the Power of the--' and then say your animal, well, you'll find out soon enough." 

"What do you mean `animal'?" Armina asked him. 

"Your animal is the nature of your spirit. Let's say you're tough. Then you'll probably have the characteristics of a lion, or a tiger, or a bear, pardon the pun." 

"OK, What else?" 

"Look deep into your hearts for this will be hard searching for your animal. Another way of transforming is if you just say `Commando Elite!', but Zelda has to cast a spell on you first." 

"Exactly why I'm here," boomed Zelda's voice as she and Link appeared. "So, these are the new defenders. Ok. Here goes!" Everyone held hands as Zelda chanted her spell. 

"Goren, Gomai, Tushand, Tushay, 

Garthen, Rosai, Gurand, Murei, 

Rhashen, Firai, Romand, Goday, 

To Fend, To Fly, Defend, Voler!" 

At once, all who held hands were lifted off the floor. Keisha giggled, and everyone else gasped. Zelda, on the floor told them: "Now you can fly whenever you want to fly. Think now of getting down, and you'll be down in seconds!" 

They all did the same, but they let go this time, and everyone descended to the floor, feet first. 

"Now say: Commando Elite!" Zelda boomed. 

"COMMANDO ELITE!" shouted Keisha, Armina, Carrie, Roberta, Sandra, Armand and Alex. 

The change was drastic. After three minutes of transformation, everyone was awed. 

Keisha was decked out in golden armour, with a girl's breast plate, waist, metal skirt, biker shorts, shoulder, elbow and knee guards and golden boots. On her back were a pair of gold-coloured angel wings, and when she moved them, they worked! On her head was a gold tiara and rubies were embedded everywhere. She held a big gold sword and on her left shoulder was a golden whip, and she wore a golden shield on her right arm, where she held the sword. Of course, her Power Pad and Zapper were still on her waist. The Defenders were decked similarily, but the boys did not wear skirts, and each had a different weapon, colour, gem and pair of wings, with the exception of one. Armina wore blue with a blue-jay's wings and she held a curved blue sabre with blue sapphires all over her. Armand wore white, with yellow topaz, with a white gargoyle's wings, and he carried a microphone, that makes anything he says blow the brains out of his foes. Carrie wore red with rubies, like Keisha, on her, with the wings of a giant robin, and she carried a bat and a surfboard and a backpack full of ammo. Roberta wore green, with butterfly's wings and emeralds on her. She carried a green electrosash, and several different types of "pollen-ball" grenades. Alex wore black, with the wings of a bat and purple topaz gems, carrying an axe and standing next to a sleek black car, holding its keys. Finally, Sandra wore silver, with orange topaz gems on her and a silver eagle's wings, carrying a powerful silver lasso. All had their Power Pads and Zappers with them, and Armina, Carrie and the boys wore pants. Roberta and Keisha's hair were tied into buns. The wings retracted themselves into everyone's backs. 

"COOL!" Keisha yelled. "This is cool!" 

* * *

Back at NASA... 

"Open the warp now, Jason!" Angela commanded a red-haired young man, standing beside a warp generator. "We're going to Videoland. Now that I've freed Mother Brain, it's time to pay her a visit!" The warp opened and a whole slew of people marched through, Angela and Jason included. 

When they were in Metroid, a huge, grey brain with a pink face and big red lips stared at them from its jar. "Who dares to come to my ship? Answer me!" it boomed. 

"I do. I am Angela Aino, the one who pulled you out of the cellar and brought you back to life," Angela answered. 

"Ah, then you know about my plans to take over Videoland! I am Mother Brain. Pleased to meet you," she introduced herself. 

"A pleasure to make your aquaintance, too, Mother Brain. What short-term business to you plan to do now?" 

"Well, Miss Aino, now that you've mentioned it, I plan to gather new henchmen for myself. The stupid cretins King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard are no more now, so I need new lackeys." 

"My employees and I can help you in your mission, whatever that may be today," Angela offered, "I'll show you what they have to offer you." 

"Good! You can show me later, though. Our next business now is to see if Captain N is still alive in Videoland!" 

"Right. Jason! Activate the viewers now!" 

"Yes, darling." Jason turned on the viewers that were attached to the ship, and a clear view of the inside of the Palace was shown. Mother Brain knew some people that she saw there, but there were others that she didn't recognize, but Angela knew their boss. 

"So Dexter had the nerve to send his warriors here. And who is that little girl? They all have Power Pads and Zappers!" 

"So Captain N is there?" Mother Brain asked. 

"Negative. My arch-enemy in science sent his warriors to defend Videoland. But we can fix that now, can we?" 

"Sure, we can! You get your henchmen ready, I'll call my friends to help you. They're from the armies' worlds! We strike again!" 

"Yeah!" screamed Angela, and the two set off to work. 

* * *

At the Palace... 

"You mean, we can adapt to ANY environment with our powers?" Alex asked the Queen. 

"Yes. The spell that Zelda cast upon us means that we will be able to change into half-human, half-whatevers, depending on the environment of the place that we must protect from Mother Brain." 

"Whoa, you mean mermaids and mermen when we're underwater? And humans again on dry land?" 

"Yes, but you don't sprout wings when you fly in your normal forms." 

"And YOU do?" Armand joked. 

"No, we just fly." 

"Who are these people around us?" Carrie inquired. 

Lana smacked her head. "Oh, I forgot! I'm sorry. Well, you all know Mega Man," she said, pointing to Mega Man. "The kid with wings, other than yourselves, is Kid Icarus. He has a great assortment of arrows, and is the best archer that I've seen in all of Videoland." 

"Pleased to make your aquainticus," he said, bowing down. 

"The blond vampire hunter is Simon Belmont, the hero of Castlevania," Lana continued. 

"And the highest ranking officer of Her Majesty's Court!" Simon interuppted the Queen. 

Lana ignored him and went on. "The retangular-shaped computer is Gameboy. We got him in the fall of 1990, through a warp that connected our world with Mirror World, the home of our mirror opposites. I have no time to explain why, so I'll continue on. Last, but not least is our dog, Duke and the doctor, Dr. Thomas Xavier Right. Duke was the dog of our previous Captain N, a boy named Kevin Keene, who came here through the Ultimate Warp Zone, and who proved in more ways than one, to be a very proud member of the team. Dr, Right is the scientist that brought Dexter here to help us with Angela, which in turn, brought you all here. He is the scientist that monitors warp zones, builds robots, in fact, does whatever he can in his field to help Videoland, right, Dr. Right?" 

"Yes, that would be me." answered the Doctor. 

"Now I would like to hear your names," Lana informed them. 

"You know me, I'm Keisha," said Keisha. 

"Armina Lafleur." 

"Armand Lafleur." 

"Carrie Wong." 

"Alex Grande." 

"Roberta Dimanno." 

"Sandra Tolera." chimed Sandra. 

"Good. I'm Queen Lana, as you may already know now. I'm truly sorry, but I sometimes forget. My memory's not very good these days." 

Suddenly, the alarm went on. The bell rang as though it never rang before, and panic swept the entire room under a sea of fear and confusion. Lana turned to the viewer. 

"It's Mother Brain! I knew it! This is where you guys come in!" Lana screamed. 

"Yeah, but what can we do?" Armina asked. 

"Nothing, you little pipsqeaks!" boomed a voice from the screen. It was Mother Brain, and with her was a woman with long, jet-black hair, wearing a grey business suit and skirt. The woman wore a black tie. 

"Angela Aino! How dare you come in here!" Dexter shouted at the screen. 

"Dexter Washington, you know I'm just here for the fun of it. Miss Mother Brain?" Angela said. 

"Thank you, Angela," the brain replied. "Go ahead and play, you puny tykes, because Mommy Brain will take care of you! Ha ha ha ha ha! Mommy Brain's gonna take care of ALL of YOU!" 

"That's it!" Alex pounded the controls and the screen went blank. "We can't go and stick around like sitting ducks! We gotta go now!" 

"Hold on a minute, there!" Armina warned, "That brain's just getting us to fight so that she can kill us and take over Videoland. I know what she's up to, but we can't let the Palace go unguarded. We need a plan, and I know the perfect one." 

* * *

"THAT WAS YOUR PLAN???" Simon screamed. "Go tour Videoland with you kids while Mother Brain takes over the Palace?" 

"Yup," answered Armina. They were at Castlevania, near the Count's mansion. 

"And leave the Palace unguarded?" 

"Not exactly. Dexter lined up the whole place full of traps. If Mother Brain enters the Palace, we'll know for sure. For now, let us see Videoland." 

"Did the Queen approve?" 

"Yeah. She's fine with it." 

They barged in through the door. The Count was waiting for them. "Greetings," he said. 

At Newsworld, Alex and Duke were on the subway going downtown. 

"This is BORING!" he yawned. Duke agreed. "I mean, this world doesn't have any action!" 

"What do you expect? This is Newsworld!" shouted a lady sitting beside him. "You moron!" 

"Am I a moron, lady?" Alex leapt up from his seat and said, "I'll show you how moronic I can be!" With that he swung around a pole and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you very much for this opportunity to show off my abilities! This song is dedicated to my girlfriend still on Earth, and I gladly thank you all for this opportunity to explore your fine planet! Hit it, Mike!" he shouted to some guy reading a newspaper. 

Then he began to sing: 

"This one goes out to the one I love. 

This one goes out to the one I left behind. 

And I know I'll be back before the end of time, 

But this one goes out to the one I love." 

"This one goes out to the one I love. 

I just hope when I return, you'll still be mine. 

And I hope when I come back you will still be fine, 

But this one goes out to the one I love" 

"I would never pine for your money, 

I do love you now. 

I love you always 

Forever and now. 

You are my baby, and 

I am yours now 'till the end of time! 

I pine for you baby, 

I can't help it now, 

Someday, maybe, 

but I love you now. 

You are my baby, and 

I am yours now 'till the end of time!" 

"This one goes out to the one I love 

I would never leave you here until I die. 

Without you, there's no one on whose shoulder I cry, 

And this one goes out to the one I love." 

"This one goes out to the one I love. 

I would never be so cruel, and I don't lie. 

So please forgive me for the wrongs because I've tried 

To make this one go out to the one I love." 

And then he repeated the chorus, dancing and singing on the subway as he slid through the aisle until the driver stopped the train at the next station and threw him out. Duke got out. 

"I' just trying to make a statement here!" Alex shouted as the train moved off, "God, these guys! You don't know what real music really is!" 

Duke barked and led him out of the station. 

"Where are we going now?" Alex asked, following him. Duke showed him a warp, and both of them hopped through it. 

* * *

"You've already seen Dr. Right's laboratory," Mega Man said, "so I get to show you the rest of Megaland. Over there's Skull Castle, where Wily lives now, that mega-scum. He used to bring trouble to me and the rest of the N-Team, but now I sure as mega-heck have no idea what he's been up to for the past six years!" 

"Do you want us to go take a look?" Sandra asked Mega Man. 

"Well, the doors do look unguarded, but it could be a trap for intruders. Let's check it out." 

And they did. Sure enough the doors were unguarded and unlocked. Sandra pushed open one of the doors and the two went in, very aware of any danger that could befall them. 

"It looks deserted!" Sandra gasped. 

"Who's there?" boomed a voice from the halls. 

"Cut Man!" Mega Man yelled and he prepared to fire. But surprisingly, Cut Man raised his hands over his head. "Don't shoot me, Mega Man! I'm unarmed! Well, except for that last blade I have, but still!" 

"Cut Man! Are you for mega-real?" 

"I'm for real, all right! I lost all my weapons to that blasted Resistance! They've been storming everything that looks like a palace ever since the Princess became the Queen! All of the castle's defences are down because of them!" 

"But we're from the Palace of Power!" Sandra told him, "besides, how do we know you're telling the truth? Where's Wily?" 

"Retired. He couldn't take the heat from that blasted man any more, so he packed up and left." 

"Blasted man? You mean Captain N, right?" 

"I wish it WERE that Captain Nuisance guy. He was easier to handle than the one from whom my boss ran away. This asshole's name is Ken Masters." 

"Ken Masters? From Shadaloo?" Mega Man asked. "No way would he be involved in any of this!" 

"Ken Masters is the LEADER of that fucking RESISTANCE!!!" Cut Man yelled. "I'm the only robot standing now. I remember how those bitches and sons-of-bitches went and tore down all of my comerades like Guts Man and Wood Man into scrap metal! Wily then made me a living machine with this emotions chip in my head, so that one day, I can have my revenge! But it won't happen with the state I'm in right now." 

Cut Man was in really bad shape. His torso was dented, and a lot of his ammo was used up. His back was fried and he could barely stand up, since his legs were so weak they could crumble at any minute. 

"Should we take him to Dr. Right, Mega Man?" Sandra asked him.

"I don't know," was all Mega Man said. 

"Look, whatever you want to do to me, do it now. I don't care anymore," Cut Man broke in. Then he fainted. Mega Man held on to Cut Man while they explored Skull Castle once again. Silver wings and rocket boosters flew them up above the traps and past the unmoving steel balls that still hung there. Sandra could not belive the debris on the ground, spikes dented by the fallen spiked balls, permanently sealed trap doors, broken walls and floors, and cracks in the ceiling, too. 

"This is way-out weird." she commented. 

"Just wait until you see the lab," Mega Man told her. 

* * *

"I don't think it's really fair for the power to give you just a microphone, Armand," Keisha told the young man. 

"That's all right. I can deal. I've dealt with worse," Armand replied, "Right, Your Majesty?" 

"Actually, I agree with Keisha. I think there's something here on Tetris that may help you." 

They were on Tetris, the Queen, the Captain and the Defender. "We're meeting Mayor Squaresly and my brother Lyle right here in this mall. Maybe the weaponry store has something useful, but we won't know until those two get here." 

"You mean us two?" boomed a jolly voice that belonged to a squarish old man with a young man with short blond hair and glasses. 

"Mayor Squaresly! Lyle! You're both here!" exclaimed the Queen. 

"Aren't we always?" Lyle told her. 

"Who are these jolly good round friends of yours?" asked the mayor. 

"This is Keisha Davenport, our new Captain N, and Armand Lafleur, one of the Defenders of the Realms." 

"A new Captain N, huh? Well, aren't you the sweetest mother of pearl!" Mayor Squaresly smiled at Keisha and she laughed. "Now, where can I get you a weapon, young man? Ah! Weapons 'R Us!" 

The five of them headed to the store. "Madam," the mayor asked the young girl at the desk, "where may we find a weapon that suits this young man to my right?" 

"That depends," the girl answered, "on what kind of a gamer he is. What games do you play?" 

"Puzzles," Armand replied. The woman disappeared behind the wall and reappeared with a silver sledgehammer. 

"This hammer is also a puzzelizer. You work it like you work a gun. Let me show you." Then she caught a shoplifter, turned a dial on the base of the weapon and fired. The shoplifter became a Tetris block. "Depending on the setting that's on the base of this baby," she continued, "you can turn people into blocks, babies, living creatures, or, my personal favourite, a puzzle! And if you blast them again, if they're good people, they return to normal, like this," she blasted the block and it changed back into a woman, "if they're bad, they're video dust. Of course, you can override that by setting it to super-blast." 

"Thank you very much," Armand accepted the weapon, which Lana paid. 

* * *

"We're in a tight bind!" Armina said to Simon, dodging the Count's blows. Simon agreed. 

"Come back, Belmont!" yelled the Count. Armina found a sharp shard of wood, and with it, broke the glass of the window that shed light on the Count. He recoiled in horror. Then she passed the shard to Simon, and yelled, "Do what you have to do to get this bastard out of our hair!" 

"My hair!" Simon yelled and combed it. 

"NOW!" she yelled, and Simon drove the shard into the Count's heart. Then demons everywhere appeared. Armina gave one a whack with her sabre, and it disappeared. Simon took out his whip and did likewise to another. One hung on to her, and she back-flipped it against a wall. Simon took out three werewolves by attaching his whip to a chandalier and hanging on as the werewolves collided into each other. He descended and whipped a mummy into shape. Armina jumped onto five vampires, careful to protect her neck from their teeth, and one vampire recoiled in pain at the loss of his teeth when she punched him in the face. She kicked another in the groin and poked his eyes out. Finally, whacks, whips and martial arts won out and the demons disappeared, as well as the Count. 

"Wow, what a workout! Hey, where's the Count?" Armina asked Simon. 

"Gone. Again, but we'll see him soon." 

"We should head to Metroid now, should we?" 

"I suppose so." He opened a warp and the two hopped in. 

* * *

"She shoots! She scores! This is a new Mount Icarus record!" 

The announcer was on the pedastal, and Carrie just won another basketball game on Mount Olymus. "I can't believe your world is hosting the new Videoland Sports!" Carrie exclaimed. 

"Yes, well, it IS known for its fun and gamesicus!" Kid Icaurus replied. "How are you doing?" 

"One more shot and we win the game!" 

Kid Icarus and Carrie were playing against Eggplant Wizard and his team of B-Ball Veggies. Eggy was losing badly, and the team of Kid Icarus, Carrie and some of his classmates at school were beating him. Carrie then performed a slam dunk after racing past Eggy's teemmates. "We won! We won!" she shouted. 

"Not fair!" Eggy whined. 

Then at the Forum, where the victors rested, Eggy and his team of losers approached them. Carrie smirked. 

"Oooh, sore loser!" she teased him. This only got Eggy angrier. 

"That's no way to treat an eggplant!" 

"What is?" she inquired, despite Kid Icarus's attempts to silence her. He could already see the eggplant get red. 

"THIS!" He aimed his wand at Carrie, but she quickly deflected the beam with her bat and it hit the counter, turning it into a banana. 

"Oops," Carrie sighed. Kid Icarus and his other friends rallied around her and shot rope arrows. Before you knew it, Eggy was bound and gagged on the floor of the Forum. "Let's warp out before he frees himself!" 

"Agreed. To Metroid!" Kid Icarus opened a warp and he and Carrie hopped through, leaving his classmates to guard the eggplant. 

* * *

"What a nice place you have, Your Highness!" Roberta viewed the North Castle with Princess Zelda and Link and a little brown-haired girl. 

"Yes it is, isn't it, Mommy?" the girl motioned to Zelda. 

"But of course it is, my little honey bun," Zelda assured her daughter. 

"So what's your daughter's name?" Roberta asked her. 

"Mary. Princess Mary Harkinian." 

"Hi, Mary. Who's your daddy?" 

Mary pointed to Link. 

"Zelda, Link, are you sure?" 

"Yes," Link answered.

"Wow, are you married?" Roberta asked. 

"It was a long and hard struggle," Zelda answered, "but Link and I married in the summer of 1992. After consummating the marriage in the Island Castle, I was pregnant with six-year-old Mary. Look at her now." 

Mary was playing around with Link's sword, in a rubber sheath.

"That's so she doesn't hurt herself," Link explained, "I think, in my opinion, that she's gonna be one heck of a warrior when she grows up."

"Yeah, she's a Daddy's girl, all right," commented Zelda.

"Mommy, Daddy, how come there's a warp in here?" Mary asked from the room of the Triforces. Link, Zelda and Roberta rushed to the room, and Link picked up the sword that Mary dropped on the floor. He replaced the rubber sheath with the sword's own sheath, and looked to see if anyone came out of the warp. No one did, yet it was still there, and it showed Metroid.

"Guess I gotta get out of here now," Roberta informed the family.

"Wait! We'll go, too!" Zelda cried. 

"But who's taking care of Mary and the Triforces?"

Zelda summoned the guards to the room. "Guard the Triforces well. We'll be back soon," she informed the guards. "As for Mary, I think this would be a good learning experience for her. If Keisha can handle Mother Brain, then so can Mary!" Then Roberta and the entire ruling family of Hyrule jumped through the warp.

* * *

"All's well that ends well," Mayor Squaresly said to the other four, "That hammer's gonna come in handy, my young lad."

"I'll bet, Mr. Mayor Squaresly," Armand replied. 

"Please, just Mayor Squaresly."

"Mayor Squaresly."

Queen Lana, Captain N, Prince Lyle, Armand and Mayor Squaresly just left the mall and were heading for the mayor's car. It was a hovercraft, as all Tetris cars were, since square wheels got you nowhere fast. But their path was blocked, and as the queen came closer, everyone but Armand and Keisha recognized the sleek black cars with round wheels. Some people screamed, and others ran to their side. 

"Queen Lana! We have you surrounded!" boomed a voice from one of the cars. "Surrender your throne or perish now!"

"Never, Ken!" Queen Lana yelled, "I'll never surrender to YOU!"

Then the figure stepped out. The man had shoulder-length blond hair and he wore a red fighter's gi with a black belt. He was barefoot, but he had a black badge with white letters that said "Death to the Queen", "In God, We Trust", and his title, which was: "President".

"Ken Masters!" Keisha cried out, "Your Majesty, I didn't know you had MORE problems!"

"Yes I do, but Mother Brain would be far too much for me alone, what with Ken leading the Resistance against me. That's why I called all of you here. To help us protect Videoland from scum like HIM!"

Ken motioned to some other people, and they stepped out and drew their guns. "Don't make us use these babies!" Ken bellowed. "They'll blow this fucking building sky-high!" He aimed at Lana. She refused again. He pulled the trigger. 

"Your gun's unloaded. I got the bullets," Armand yelled, holding the microphone in front of him. Sure enough, when Ken pulled the trigger, nothing happened. Armand showed him the bullets in his right hand.

"Shit!" was all Ken could say. Then "Get them!" as thousands of men and women rallied around Ken and surrounded the five people. Some began to fire. These Lana dodged and Armand took out his sledgehammer and pounded some of them to a pulp. Keisha drew her whip, since most of the assailants were human, and lashed out at ten of them. She roped one and, given her newly found superhuman strength, threw him in the air. Lana shielded Mayor Squaresly and Lyle by kicking at any foe that came towards her. Then one lunged at the Queen and she rolled on her back and kicked her sky-high. She got up on her feet. Keisha whipped twenty people towards a car, smashing both them and the car. Still thousands more came forward. Armand used his sledgehammer to shoot at a hundred of them, with his friends behind him, and those hundredd became Tetris blocks. Then, to finish the fight, Keisha drew her sword, and sliced their limosines in half. Armand then hollered, with the microphone: "You have to go home now. Your mommy's calling you!" and the Resistance obeyed. But Ken stayed behind. 

"Why do you attack us, Ken? I'm your friend!" Lana asked him. 

"The King wasn't here on your 21st birthday, Princess. Something fishy's going on, and I'm about to stop it!" Accent on the "Princess". He fired a Hadou-Ken and the Queen jumepd.

"I, too, learn from the best, Masters!" Lana shouted, "Don't think, that just because I'm royalty, means that I'm a weakling!" She fired a Red Hadou-Ken and his car melted. Ken also had some third-degree burns.

"Ryu!" he shouted "It's Ryu! He's your sensei?!?"

"The very best in the world," boasted the Queen.

"Oh, yeah?" Ken hurled right at her with his Hurricane Kick, but Lana countered him with a Sho-Ryu-Ken, a Dragon Punch. Ken fell to the ground on his butt. Nevertheless, Ken got up and charged at her, but the Queen was very persistant. She blocked him and kicked him all the way back to his damaged car. "I've had enough of your attacks, Masters! Now you know why Ryu's not your friend anymore!" Ryu, as you all know now, is extremly loyal to the Queen, and even helped her prepare for her coronation ceremony. Ken remembered that now. Then he grew very angry. "YOU BITCH!!!" he swore "YOU BRAINWASHED MY FRIEND!!!" And he charged at her with full speed. This time the Queen was unprepared. He smashed her against a wall, and just as she was about to get up, he began his deadly Super Sho-Ryu-Ken, the fiery Dragon Uppercut. It looked like the end ... until Keisha lassooed Queen Lana and yanked her away at the very last minute. Ken finished his move, but to no avail. Suddenly, a helicopter hovered over them and dropped a ladder.

"You're lucky this time, Princess!" Ken hollered, "but next time, we'll finish you off! We are THE RESISTANCE!!!!"

Lana fired a Hadou-Ken at Ken, hitting him square on the stomach, but Ken held onto the ladder, stunned.

"NEVER CALL ME PRINCESS AGAIN, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" she yelled, "I AM QUEEN LANA!!! QUEEN! QUEEN OF VIDEOLAND!!! DON'T YOU FORGET!!" The helicopter flew off with Ken still hanging on the ladder.

"Well, we should be going to Metroid now," she informed the mayor and the Prince.

"We'll see you soon," was all Lyle could say, before the Queen, the Captain and the Defender warped away.

* * *

"It IS a mess!" Sandra gasped as she, Mega Man and Cut Man saw Dr. Wily's lab. Moss, mildew, broken glass, smashed computers and spilled liquid covered the entire room. "I don't understand," Mega Man commented, "Why would Wily mess up his own space? The castle, I understand, but his lab? He was always a mega-neat freak!"

"Again, the Resistance," Cut Man answered, "They tore up every bit of this place when I was in the incubator, recuperating from Ken's fireball. Wily saved me because I still had my 'spark', and therefore, I was salvageable. The other guys were not so lucky." He bowed his head, then he screamed.

"What is it?" Sandra asked.

"Guards! Ken's guards! They send guards here every day, to check if the Queen is there!"

"My sensors are picking up three lifeforms, sir," a man in a black suit told a woman, similarly dressed.

"Describe." she answered.

"One's artificial, one's biomechanical, and one's a female human. With dark brown hair and green eyes."

"What? The Queen is here? I thought she's in Tetris! Never mind! Attack her!" As soon as they found the three, Sandra lassooed the agents and hurled them against the wall.

"YOU'RE not the Queen!" shouted the woman.

"And YOU'RE getting a makeover, sister!" Sandra hollered, as she grabbed her by her neck and slammed her against the oncoming people. They all tumbled down the stairs into more dangerous levels.

"Come on, if we don't hurry to Metroid, they'll come back for more!" Sandra hollered.

"But what about Cut Man?" asked Mega Man.

"Bring him with you! Maybe he can help us!" 

Sure enough, they did. All three warped away to Metroid before the woman and her troops could find their way back to the lab. "Where'd they go?" asked the woman in bewilderment.

* * *

At Metroid...

Everyone warped here at the same time, with some new allies. Lana sure was amazed when she saw Cut Man holding Mega Man's hand. "It's all right. He's on our side now," Mega Man informed everyone.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Carrie inquired.

"Easy," Keisha answered, "we check out this place. If Mother Brain's not here, we head back home."

"Are you sure about that?" Alex wondered.

"Positive," Keisha answered, "I mean, if Mother Brain's not in Metroid, what other place could she be except in the Palace? It makes no sense for her to be anywhere else by now."

"She's right," Armina agreed, "Mother Brain would never leave her ship, unless it was to take over Videoland. Remember how we all went to different places? That was so that we could easily locate Mother Brain. She'd never be anywhere else other than here if we didn't leave the Palace, right?"

"Right," Keisha said, "Let's go! Better not to split up, since she's usually at the main bridge."

They stuck together, all seventeen of them: Keisha, Lana, Armina, Simon, Alex, Duke, Sandra, Mega Man, Carrie, Kid Icarus, Roberta, Zelda, Armand, Link, Mary, Cut Man and Gameboy, who warped to Metroid from the Palace. Each followed the other into dangerous tunnels, filled with monsters (lassooed and puzzelized), demons (chopped and diced) and robots (whipped into shape). Cables dangled where the heroes stood now, in front of a big door.

"Who gets the honour of bashing this baby down?" asked Armina. Alex volunteered, and he swung his axe. With one fell swoop, the door crashed to the ground. What they saw shocked them.

Mother Brain was just about to leave the ship, when she spotted the new N-Team and gasped.

"How dare you come here?" she yelled.

"By way of your defences," answered Cut Man, "which, may I add, were weak, compared to us!!!" 

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Angela popped up from behind. A traitor? Or - dare I say it - a spy?" 

"You're not fooling us, woman!" Armand yelled from his position. Cut Man used this time to escape from Angela and scurry over to Alex. Angela marched over to Armand and slapped his face. 

"What what you say, boy!! I am Angela Aino, not just some woman!! Maybe you'd like a taste of my anger, right, Jason?" 

"Right, my darling," Jason answered her and then yelled, "Soldiers! Attack!!" 

Everyone was ambushed. Men and women everywhere began to attack our heroes. Alex blocked a kick with his axe and swung a woman towards Mother Brain's jar. Keisha roped off five attackers with her whip, and hurled them against a wall. Armina and Armand stuck together, blocking off attackers from every angle. Roberta threw a grenade at ten women and the grenade exploded into dust that stung their eyes. She proceeded to help her friend Sandra, who had some trouble lassooing five men who were running at different directions and attacking her at different angles. Lana's Hadou-Kens were enough to show her attackers who's boss. All of them hit Mother Brain's glass, and it cracked.

"Angela! Do something, before I'm history!!" she shrieked.

"Mother Brain!" she cried in response. "The time machine's done! We can go back in time and finish off the first Captain N!!"

"Activate it, before I start to DIE!!!"

"NOOOOO!!!! KEVIN!!!!" screamed the queen. She tore off her kimono, which revealed a black leather jumpsuit with black metal armour on her chest, hip, legs and arms. On her waist was an 8-bit NES controller and an orange Zapper. She tore away the bun, and let her shoulder-length hair flow freely.

"YOU BITCH!!" she screamed at Mother Brain and she ran towards the time machine and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to it.

"NO!" screamed Angela, as she raced to the machine and punched the queen in the face. Lana responded with a kick to Angela's stomach. A hit in the chest. A chop in the back. Lana threw Angela on the floor, and she responded with a kick that sent the queen against a wall. With the two women cutting each other's throats and pulverizing each other to a pulp, Mother Brain took the liberty of sweeping the awed "audience" off their feet, and activating the machine herself.

"The machine! It started!" cried Armina.

"We gotta stop Mother Brain from going inside it!" screamed Keisha. Then "Ok. I got an idea. Some of us form a barrier around Mother Brain, while the rest us destroy that machine!"

"_Anything_ will work, Keisha! What about teams?" Armina ran to her side.

"You, Armand, Simon, Sandra, Mega Man, Zelda and Mary will form a barrier around Mother Brain. Do whatever it takes to stop her from going into the machine. The rest of us will try to destroy the machine."

"Ok, but be careful!"

"I will!" Armina, Armand, Simon, Mega Man, Zelda and Mary all attacked Mother Brain, while Keisha, Carrie, Alex, Roberta, Cut Man, Link, Duke and Kid Icarus concentrated on the time machine. Keisha then instructed Link: "Go get the Queen, and if she can still stand, we'll need her help in destroying this monster!"

"Right!" Link dashed off and found the Queen, still standing, and about to attack an unconscious Angela. "Come on, Your Majesty, Keisha needs your help!" he whispered to her and dragged Lana over to the machine.

The machine was almost in ruins. Alex slashed cables with his axe, and Roberta electrocuted it with her electrosash. Lana gave it all she got, flaming red Hadou-Ken. Carrie smashed it this way and that with her ultra-sonic speed bat. Kid Icarus hoped to overload it with his lightening arrows, which he fired. Duke, wearing magical protection spells from Zelda, attacked the machine with his paws and his sharp jaws, ripping pieces out from it. Link and Keisha slashed and pierced the machine with their swords. Cut Man kicked it this way and that.

While those people worked on the machine, Armina, Armand, Simon, Sandra, Zelda and Mary worked on Mother Brain. Armina slashed at her jar with her sabre. It only made a scratch.

"You scratched my jar!" Mother Brain pouted, in a very cutesy way. "Now, how about this?" She swung one of her tentacles to kill Armina, but Sandra lassooed it tightly just before it could reach her leader. She yanked it all the way back, and Armina sliced the tentacle in half.

"OWWWWW!!!" screamed Mother Brain, as she tried to proceed to the damaged machine. But Simon lashed his whip and caught hold of one of the brain's wheels. Mega Man caught another, as well as Mary and Armand. Sandra threw the dead tentacle away, saw what Zelda wanted to do, and she lassooed the fifth wheel in place. Armina climbed on top of the brain's jar, and started hacking away at the glass.

"Good!" shouted Zelda, "You all stop Mother Brain, while I cast a spell on her!" And she did. No one had time to hear the spell, they were all busy at their own tasks, but as soon as Zelda finished, she yelled, "Ok, you can let go of her now!" 

Armina jumped down from her position, and the rest let go of Mother Brain's wheels.

"Ha, Ha, you fools! I'm free! Now I can go back and make sure I RULE VIDEOLAND!!"

"I don't think so, Mother Pea-Brain!" shouted Zelda.

"What do you mean?" Then "AH!!! I can't move! ANGELA! ANGELA!"

"Would a week of stickiness suit you now?" shouted Zelda.

"YOU BITCH!! YOU TRAPPED ME!!" was her response. Then "MY MACHINE!!!" was heard as Cut Man delivered his final blade to the ailing piece of trash. His blade was accompanied by a blast from Keisha's sword. As the rubies glowed on her, red and golden auras swarmed around her. She delivered this colourful blast by saying "By the colours of the rainbow, you are mine!! Psycho Rainbow Blast!!" and a golden blast of energy hit the machine. It overloaded by too many attacks and blew up as everyone ran from it.

"My machine...," said a stunned Mother Brain, as she watched everyone else warp from the ship.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell us before?" asked Alex. "We could have gotten her!!"

"Because I don't believe in killing. Even the bad people." answered Lana. "The important thing is that we stopped her from going back in time."

"But why is that important?" asked Armand.

"Because if she did go back, she'll go with Angela and her henchmen. You all saw how bad THEY were, so Kevin wouldn't have stood a chance against them, them being so well-versed in martial arts and magic."

They were back in the Palace, and Dexter and Dr. Right had removed most of the traps. Sandra still had one question: "Why is Ken Masters the leader of the Resistance, anyways?"

"Because of a verbal fight we had after we sent Kevin home. Ken wanted to marry me, but I said no, as I did to Simon. Simon understood, and went off to fight the Count, but Ken was a different story. He loved me from afar, you see, and he wasn't going to take no for an answer. Now he wants his revenge, and he's using my title and coronation ceremony to get it."

"OK, but what happened to the King?" asked Alex, as he stepped on to the floor (he had been sitting on a chair).

"Alex, I..." cautioned Lana, but it was too late. Alex screamed as he was thrown on the floor and suddenly tied up. Everyone laughed.

"I think I'll like it here, Your Majesty," Keisha commented.

"I'm glad," she answered. "But please, call me Lana."

"Ok, Lana," Keisha told her.

"While you're not busy," asked Alex, "could you please untie me? Please?" Everyone laughed again. 

"Not funny," he moaned in pain

GAME OVER 


	2. Adjusting

"All set?" Lana asked Keisha one day in Newsworld. "Your first day in a Videoland school!"

"I can't wait!" she replied.

"Yeah, this will be very exciting!"

Lana had enrolled the newest Captain N into a Newsworld public school, at the captain's request, because she wanted to be with people her own age. Lana also instructed the principal that Keisha should go the minute the beeper beeps, because that would signal an emergency needed to be taken care of right away. She assured the principal that it was all right with her, since Keisha could not activate the beeper herself and even if she could, she was not told how.

"Well, we got a new student!" exclaimed a teacher, "Hello, Keisha. I'm Miss Jarowick, and I'm going to be your teacher!"

"Hello, Miss Jarowick," answered Keisha. "I'm glad to be a student here in Newsworld Public School." She was wearing a blue T-shirt and blue jeans with matching sneakers, something that Lana bought for her right after they untied Alex. Then came a little red-haired girl wearing pigtails, accompanied by Dr. Right. The girl had on a pink T-shirt and red coudroy overalls, with black sneakers and white socks. "Hi," she said. She appeared to be six years old.

"This is my niece Lonnie Right," Dr. Right informed Lana and Keisha. "She'll be attending your school, Keisha."

"Hi, Keisha," Lonnie said, a very shy girl.

"Hi, Lonnie," said Keisha, equally shy.

"Well, shall we be going?" asked Miss Jarowick. "We shouldn't keep the others waiting."

"Good idea. Keisha begins at Grade 3, Lonnie at Grade 1."

"That was one tough workout!" Alex yawned, wearing a red T-shirt and blue jeans with white sneakers. "I thought we would be holographic toast by now!"

"Yeah, Dr. Right's Danger Room reminds me of the one in 'X-Men'," replied Sandra in a pink sundress and matching pink flats.

"I don't know how anyone could survive that Banjo-Kazooie part," Carrie complained, wearing a red sweater and black jeans with matching socks and sneakers. "Too bad Banjo and Kazooie couldn't be there to help us fight those monsters."

They were just emerging from a holographic chamber in Dr. Right's lab, finished with their training session. Armina and Roberta had left earlier due to previous engagements, and Armand KOed himself while attacking a holographic monster and had to be wheeled out of the room.

"Why did Armand have to take on that monster, anyway?" asked Carrie, "He knew it would be dangerous to approach him alone. Why didn't he wait for us?"

"Because he's not used to teamwork, Carrie," answered Alex, "Remember that he and his sister were the last to join the Defenders? They only had a year's training with us, and years of being out on the street kinda makes even the most cooperative of teammates a little distrusting."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Carrie's heart sank.

"I still don't get why Armina's the leader," Sandra announced, "I mean, what you said is true, Alex, she's only been with us for a year."

"Because Dexter said that Armina showed a lot of potential when he tested her leadership skills," Alex told her. "Besides, none of us can lead like she can. I was the leader before her, and look what happened to us."

"Yeah, like the time you thought that aliens were invading America, when it happened to be a crazy guy from an asylum. Landed us in prison just for that, and lucky for us Dexter could afford to bail us out." commented Sandra.

"Hey!! It was an honest mistake!" Alex shouted. 

"Don't worry, we'll get through Mother Brain, like we got through the FBI and everything else," assured Carrie, as the three headed for the Palace.

At Bayouland...

"How are you enjoying your retirement, Arthur?" asked a pretty blonde in a black bathing suit.

"Very much so, Marcia," answered Dr. Wily, cuddling next to her in a swamp wearing blue trunks. She was giving him a mudbath and was doing a very good job on his back. Suddenly, another blonde popped out of nowhere and seized Wily. 

"What??" he sputtered, "What are you doing, you little bitch???"

"Giving you what's due!" she shouted as she hurled him through a warp.

Wily hurtled through to Mother Brain's lair and the blonde followed.

"Good job, Latencia!" praised Mother Brain, "and Arthur!! How nice of you to DROP IN!!" Mother Brain laughed evilly. "Time for you to power our time machine!"

"What time machine?? And what do you want with me??" shouted Wily. Angela came to his side, grabbed him and held him in place.

"Why, the time machine that lets Mother Brain and all of us go back to the time after she was trapped and kill Captain N!!"

"But that's impossible!!" he answered, "Captain N's not in Videoland!!"

"Oh, SHE is, I'm sure," answered Angela, "but we're interested in the one that you're talking about, the boy!"

"Why??? Won't that destroy Videoland?"

"Not in the slightest, Arthur," answered Mother Brain. "Videoland is a very stable universe. But going back to 1989 would be impossible because there's my past self to contend with. And don't even think about going to your Earth, Angela!!! We don't know the stability of your universe, so if we go back to Earth 1989 and do something, Earth may cease to exist, taking us with it!!!"

"So the plan is to go back to 1992, take over Videoland and stay there forever?" asked Angela

"Precisely," answered Mother Brain. "Now that's where you come in, Arthur. I want you and Angela's scientists to come up with devices and monsters to sap the energy needed to power this humongous machine!!!"

"Excellent!!" shouted Wily, "I'm not sure about you, Angela, but I'm ready to give it a go!!"

"As am I, Dr. Wily! First off, we build your Robot Masters and find Cut Man and try to get him to our side. If we can't, then we look and gather energy."

"CUT MAN IS THE MOST LOYAL ROBOT THAT I HAVE EVER BUILT!!!!" shouted Wily. "I left everything when I left my house!! He's programmed to be loyal!!!"

"Like, that's going to happen, Wily," said Angela as the two left the bridge. "I'm sure Dr. Right had something to do with his leaving Skull Castle."

"WHAAAAT????" he shouted. Then, "Never mind Cut Man, then. Let's get that energy!!!"

"I'm with you!! Lacy!! Tracy!! Come with us!!" Two identical twin women wearing lab coats followed Angela and Wily to Metroid's laboratories.

"There! Good as new, Cut Man!!" Dr. Right announced.

"Thanks, Doctor!" thanked Cut Man, "you're even better than Wily!! I always had to fix myself with him around!!" He had on a red sweater and blue jeans, now, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Cut Man wore laced white sneakers and stood about 5'8", taller than he had been before. Cut Man was human now.

"Cut Man, perhaps it's time for your new name, you know, the one that we've discussed last night?"

"Oh, yeah, it's Greg Newmann, right?"

"Right!" Then he picked up a sceptre, the one that he uses in naming robots. "Cut Man, I hereby dub thee Greg Newmann!!! The tallest and fastest robot that had the pleasure of being my new friend!!"

"Aw, shucks, Doctor," Greg actually blushed. Later he was seen wearing a sign on his front, showing his new name and introducing himself as this new man.

"I'm never going back to Wily again!!! I'm just glad to be on the good guy side!!" he shouted to the Queen, "I'm sorry for all the troubles I've caused the N Team. Thanks for setting me straight!"

"You're very welcome!! And thanks, for joining our team, Greg."

"My pleasure!!" answered Greg.

At the Communications Centre...

"I don't like the looks of this, Armina," Roberta shivered. "Metroid's so quiet! What's going on?"

"Lots of activity!!" answered Armina, "Look at the viewer!! Mother Brain's got the machine up again!!"

"This calls for teamwork, everyone!" Armand appeared at the door. "We gotta call Captain N from school!!"

"Brett, what is one plus 35?" asked Miss Jarowick.

"Thirty-six," answered Brett, a girl with brown hair, sitting next to Keisha.

"Very good!!" Then an annoucement: "Will Keisha Davenport please report to the Palace of Power? Keisha Davenport to the Palace of Power!!"

"That's me," sighed Keisha as she slunk off her chair and walked to a warp and jumped through.

"We're here!!" Keisha rushed through to the Communications Centre with Lana, Simon, Greg, Mega Man, Kid Icarus, Alex, Carrie, Sandra and Duke.

"Good!! Check this out!!" Armina pointed to a viewer that showed the machine, good as new. Then voices came. It was Wily and Angela.

"WILY!!" shouted Greg. "I thought he retired!!!"

"Retirement's over, Greg." answered Lana.

"I think we should go to Hyrule first!! All that magic, should be enough energy!!" boasted Wily.

"No," said Angela, "Hyrule has few people that know magic. Besides, the California Games has lots of water. And falling water provides lots of energy!!"

"Maybe, but how are we to get that water???" he asked. 

"Simple. We kidnap a few sorcerers and use them to get water to fall on this hydro dam. Then the dam will convert the water into energy!!"

"Oh, no!! Not California Games!!" shouted Lana.

"YESS!!" shouted Wily. "Let's start now!! Sorcerers, beware! Wily and Angela are here!!!"

"I got the sorcerers!!" shouted Angela, and sure enough, Zelda and other people were there. "I used my tracker, teleporter and tractor teleporters to get them all in one microsecond!!"

"ZELDA!!" shouted Keisha. "We gotta stop them!! Carrie, you know the waters well, so you make sure they stay in that world. Me and the others will stop Wily and Angela."

"YEs, Captain!" shouted Carrie.

"YESS!!!" shouted Wily. "Phase One is complete!! Now to get the waters!!"

"YESS!!!" shouted Angela, "CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME!!!!"

TO BE CONTINUED IN "BREAKING WAVES"!!! 


	3. Breaking Waves

At the California Games

"I can't believe this is happening!!" Carrie cried. 

"All this water going to waste, and all because of that stupid machine!!"

"I know what you mean, Carrie," said Armina, "but we won't let that happen, will we?"

"No way!!!"

The girls were superheroes now, Armina in her blue-armoured bodysuit and Carrie in a bodysuit of glittering red metal and rubies. Keisha, Sandra and Roberta wore skirts, because they were not heavily involved into physical action like Armina and Carrie. Also, Armina and Carrie's outfits had long sleeves like the boys. Both wore their long hair down to the waist, and each wielded her own weapon in her hands. Carrie stared into the ocean.

"Just a few more seconds 'till they come and suck the whole beach dry," she stated.

"Three ... two ... one," counted Armina, "Blast off!!! There they are!!" She pointed to two figures on a submarine ship. Wily and Aino were in full view of the heroes.

"Gotta get to the submarine and destroy the controls!!" shouted Armina.

"How??" asked Carrie, "I can swim, but what about you?"

"Gonna try something, back me up on this one!!" She ran to a cliff, where the water was deep and dove off. Carrie, in fear of her leader's safety, went off after her. 

"Armina!!!" she cried as she hit the water.

A sudden change took over her underwater. Carrie's legs joined to form a red tail, and she didn't feel the need to surface for air. Carrie was a mermaid now.

"So, Zelda wasn't kidding when she said we could be anything!!" Then, "The sub!!!" She used her tail to propel herself to the plunging sub, and she spotted, with glad surprise, Armina swimming way ahead of her, also a mermaid.

* * *

"I don't get it," complained Alex. "Why can't we go underwater and become mermaids and mermen, and stuff like that? That would have been cool!!"

"Because we have to go inside the submarine, and once we change, we can't change back until we reach solid, dry , NATURAL land," answered Roberta, "A submarine's floor is artificial land, not natural, and our tails would be useless."

"But why can my sister and Carrie go?" asked Armand.

Keisha answered, "Because their work is on the outside, or that's what they told us. They're going to stop Wily from drilling a hole in the ground, while we sabotage the ship's insides."

The Team were chatting inside their own watercraft. It was a sleek pink ship, its shape resembling that of the Planeteer's GeoCruiser, except larger to include sleeping quarters, a kitchen, a bathroom, a room where they would put on scuba and space suits, and a lounge. Of course, there was the dispatching room, where they would leave and come on the ship, and the main bridge, where all the controls were, even the warp generator.

"Dr. Right and his students built this baby three years ago as a present for the Queen's 21st birthday." announced Sandra, looking around the ship. "The S.S. Starlight's the best and the fastest ship in all of Videoland!"

"And the best looking, too," bragged Queen Lana, "That must be the reason why the doctor gave it to me for my 21st birthday!"

"Don't forget Your Majesty, for your coronation ceremony, too!"

"How could I? It was the best present that I received! Of all MATERIAL things, of course!!"

The ship veered towards the sinking submarine and at Lana's orders, her pilot Lytideon positioned the ship under the now-floating submarine of brown metal.

"All right, Lytideon," ordered the Queen, "guard the ship until we return. Signal us if there's any trouble, and we'll do the same for our side."

"Yes, your highness," answered the brawny male pilot with blue hair. He proceeded to the escape hatch and made sure that everyone aboard got out. Then Lytideon shuffled to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of tea, and relaxed on the main bridge.

* * *

Inside the submarine...

"Kylie! Laestrygonia! Kipper! Sindelle! Keep working on that water crisis!" shouted Angela Aino from an upper deck. "I need that teleporter now! Gerrard! Get your butt moving before I move it into the hellfire!"

"YESSIR!" shouted a man who was reading comic books and now running around in circles. Angela rolled her eyes and ignored Gerrard.

"I thought we would first drill a hole into the ground and connect it to my water trams!" whispered Dr. Wily, angrily.

"Patience, Arthur, patience," answered Angela, "The teleportation system is faster than water trams. I've got a ship waiting in Kongoland with the energy converting dam. When we flood Kongoland with a waterfall, the converter will turn the water into chemical energy that will fill up the energy cells needed to power the time machine. You know how costly it is to replace the cells that we lost two weeks ago!"

"I see That's all I need to know."

That was also all that the N Team needed to know, too. Armina and Carrie swam up to the six N Teamsters in scuba suits.

"How do you propose we get inside?" Keisha asked her, "Look, the plans are gone now. They're not drilling a hole into the ground."

"I know, and I wish I knew a better way out of our mistake," explained Armina, still in mermaid form, "but we gotta go on, make up as we go kind of thing. Carrie and I will continue to eavesdrop from the outside."

"Right," said Keisha, "I think I know how to get in without them knowing." She looked at one wheel and swam up to it. "Sandra, come with me. You grab the door with your lasso. Roberta, go help her with your sash. Armand, Alex, Armina and Carrie and Her Majesty will use their weapons and help me bang that door open! Now everyone to work!"

They all circled around the door. Sandra and Roberta in scuba suits scurried to the sides of the door and knotted multiple sides of the handle with their ropes and pulled. Lana, Keisha, Armina, Armand, Alex and Carrie all attempted to break open the door with weapons and Zappers.

"I can't go on much longer," complained Lana as she fired a Hadou-Ken at the door. "My Zapper's all out and so will I after this last shot."

Keisha handed her her whip. "Take this and help the others pull the door open, then, Your Majesty."

Lana accepted the whip and swam to the others pulling at the door handle. After so much pounding, Carrie had an idea. "This may take up all our Zappers' energy, but we'll need it. If we aim them together, we can blast the door right in!"

"It's worth a shot," said Armina, "All opposed?"

No one raised his or her hand. It was a go. "Set Zappers on kill," said Keisha, "and we're sure to open this door!" They did, and Sandra and Roberta threw their Zappers towards the other members.

"Keisha! Armina! Catch!" and the girls caught the Zappers and each fired the two guns in her possession. The others surrounded them and did the same. Then everyone swam in one direction, firing at the door, until they reached the same place. The door fell through, but Sandra, Roberta and Lana were quick enough to swim away, pulling the door with them to buy time for the others to go in.

* * *

"INTRUDERS!! WE HAVE INTRUDERS!!!" shouted the computer. Wily and Angela panicked.

"Power on the teleporter!!" she shouted. "Take care of the intruders, guards! Let me take a look into the viewer!" She looked into the viewer, and lo and behold, there were the N Team. "Well, if it isn't Dexter's little Goof Troop!!" she snickered. "I think I know how to take care of them!" She turned to a man, grabbed him, and dragged him down the stairs with her. "Jonathan, I have a special job for you. Now you're going to go down and ..." she whispered the rest into his ear, and he nodded as they parted their ways.

* * *

"We better get moving!" whispered Keisha. "Somebody get Armina and Carrie some wheeled chairs so they can move around." It was apparent that what was said about human form and dry land was true: Armina and Carrie were stuck in mermaid form until they reached the shore. A girl with a couple of wheeled chairs rolled them towards the girls, and they hopped on.

"Thanks," said Alex, "do I know you?"

"I'm Betty," said the girl. She had long, red hair and wore a navy blue nylon bodysuit. "And you?"

"I'm in love," said a very flattered Alex, but Sandra smacked him in the face. "Ow!" he shouted and Armand kept him from smacking Sandra back. He then turned to the girl and asked her, "Where are you from?"

"California Games. I came to see what's going on with our water."

"We are too," Armina spoke from her chair. "Seems to me this is the last ocean ever that Mother Brain hasn't taken over yet. We've tried to rescue the other bodies of water for the past few days, but with unsuccessful results. This is our last chance to stop her from going back in time and kill the original Captain N."

"I see," replied Betty, "but what's so important about the waters?"

"Mother Brain believes that if she can control the waters, that she use them to go over a hydro-dam, converting the water to pure energy and powering the time machine."

"So you pretty well know what she's up to, right?"

"That's right. And we're going to stop her before any more madness continues." Then she heard a voice on the PA system: "We have intruders. Summon defences immediately!"

"We have trouble," Carrie informed the rest of them, "and I'm no help because of my form."

"Oh, yes you are, Carrie," asnwered Armina. "We both are. I know how." To Armand, Alex, Sandra, and Roberta: "Take out these guys. We don't need more trouble than we already have." To Betty: "Go and find somewhere safe to hide. Then find a way to get out of here." To Keisha and Lana: "You don't need me to tell you what to do. Just do it." Then to Carrie: "Let's go to the controls."

Action took place. Armand, Alex, Sandra and Roberta took on the guards. Alex swung his axe at one and sliced his chest open. He took off the mask and found that the assailant was not a monster, but was human. He was shocked to see that he wounded a human and that there was so much blood. "Be careful, Alex!!" shouted Sandra, "This isn't the simulator, for Pete's sake!"

"I know, I KNOW!!" he cried back, slinging his axe across his back and taking on the guards with his bare hands.

Armand smashed two guys with his sledgehammer and looked on as Alex punched a guy in the stomach.

Sandra roped off two women and slung them off their feet. Roberta hovered over her enemies and threw grenades from here and there, making them sneeze from pollen extract, then run screaming as monsters appeared out of nowhere and chased them off.

"Guess I showed them!" she bragged.

* * *

At the Control Room... 

"Gathering data ... done!" said Armina. "Only one command left for us to destroy."

"The teleportation device?" asked Carrie.

"Yup." Then, "I'm going out to check on the guys. You stay here and wait for me, OK?"

"Sure." Then Armina wheeled out of the room. She checked, but there was no one in sight. Then Armina lowered herself with a lift to a lower floor. That's when she saw the surprise.

"Surprised, aren't you?" asked Wily. "I had the liberty of trapping your friends while you were away!" Then, "Close," and she could hear Carrie's screams as the door closed on her.

"NOOO!!!" cried Armina, "what have you done with our friends??!!??"

"They're soon going to enjoy the Falls, just like you will be. Get her!!" cried Angela. Armina screamed and lashed out with her sabre, but in the end, it was no use. Soon she was packed in a barrel with the others. As Angela closed the barrel, she complimented Betty. "I couldn't have done it without dear Elizabeth. While your pals were fighting my guards, she lured them all into this barrel. What a gal!"

"What a traitor!" Alex muttered as the barrel closed.

Then something funny happened. The ship disappeared with the water, and everything ended up in Kongoland, at the highest cliff, where a dam was waiting for the water.

* * *

"We're in Kongoland!" whispered Carrie. "I've got to get out of here!" Then she found an escape hatch, and wriggled herself through. "I've got to stop eating those Hostess Twinkies," she muttered as she escaped.

She climbed out of the ship and reached dry land. There she had legs again, and her surfboard appeared. "Now to get all this water back to the California Games, and save my friends as well!" Over on the cliff where water now raged, she heard voices:

"Once our water falls, so will you in this barrel," boasted Angela, "and it's curtains, because once the water falls, the safetly latch will be broken and all of you will fall 15,000 feet straight to that metal plate full of spikes!" She looked down the water fall, and found the spiked plate.

"Angela, it's time to go to the bottom and supervise our dam," annouced Wily.

"You won't get away with this!" cried Armina. "Our friend's still free! She'll get you!"

"For what? We'll deal with her later!" she said. Then, "Let's go." And she and Wily left the scene.

Minutes later, the latch broke and the barrel plummeted. But Carrie wasn't far off. She flew on her board and grabbed the barrel before it could hit the spikes. She landed the barrel on dry land and everyone got out.

"Thanks," said Armina, as she reached human form again.

"No problem," was Carrie's answer, as she raced to the falling water. She wished she could control the stream and found that she could by surfing. So she raced to the end with her board and used it to touch the water. It obeyed her commands and off went Carrie with water flowing behind and below her, towards California Games. As soon as she got there, she flooded the world back to normal with a tidal wave of water. She landed on the sand.

"Now I got to go back and help everyone get Wily!" She warped back, only to find that he got away.

"He flew the coop. Sorry," was all Armina could say.

"That's fine," she answered.

* * *

Later in Kongoland ... 

"It wasn't hard, after this experience, to get all the waters back to their own worlds!" Carrie chuckled. "I mean, for me, it was easy!"

"I'm glad it was easy for you," said Keisha, "I couldn't have done it!"

"You'll learn, you're still young."

"Hey," announced Alex, "wanna go surfing tomorrow? Big contest, you know."

"No!" shouted Carrie. "I've had enough water experiences to last me a lifetime. If I see water again, I'm going to scream!"

"That's too bad," he said, "because now we're gonna have to give you a bath!!" And everyone dumped glasses of water over her head, but she still was human, since she was on land. Carrie screamed, then laughed, and everyone joined in and had a fun time that night. 

GAME OVER 


	4. Little Boy Lost

Little Boy Lost September 4, 1998... 

At News World Public School... 

"Keisha!! Wait up!" cried a little red-haired girl, following Keisha Davenport out of the school. Afternoon recess had just begun, and Keisha was leaving the building again. She had on a white blouse and a cute little red skirt, with white sneakers and white socks. Her hair was done up in a bun. "Wait for me!!" cried the redhead in a matching outfit. Keisha stopped and turned to the girl. 

"What is it, Lonnie?" she asked. "I just wanna go talk to the new boy from Tetris. It's not like I'm gonna die!" 

"Oh. Sorry," Lonnie apologized. "But I wanna talk to him, too. Oh, please, please, please, can I go with you?" 

"All right, come with me, then." The girls proceeded to a blond boy. He had square-ahaped hair, but the rest of him was round. He had on a green sweater and blue jeans from News World. He was leaning on a basketball stand with a net. "Hi, I'm Keisha, and this is my friend Lonnie." 

"Hi," said the boy. "My name is Luke." 

"So what brings you to this school?" asked Lonnie. 

"My mom," answered Luke. "She's got a new job here, so I gotta move, since I live with her." 

"What about your dad?" asked Keisha. 

"Gone. Who knows where. I haven't heard from him since the divorce." Luke then asked, "Where do you come from, Keisha? I heard that you're just as new as I am." 

"I come from another world. A place where everyone here is a video game character, and all the events that happen here are just games. I was pulled from my world into here because I have to save Videoland from evil, and the Defenders are here to help me and protect the Queen." 

"So you must be the newest Captain N! I heard about you, but I, well, thought that you would be older." 

"Same difference." 

"Well, how are you enjoying this school?" 

"It's very fun. Miss Jarowick's a really nice teacher." Then the bell rang. 

"I gotta go," said Luke, "Mr. Stravinsky's waiting." 

"Who's he?" asked Lonnie. 

"My teacher." Then Keisha and Lonnie remembered. Mr. Stravinsky teaches the fifth grade. 

"You're in the _fifth grade?_" Keisha gasped. _I'm talking to a fifth grader!_ she thought. 

"Yeah, and you must be in the third grade, right?" 

"Yes...." _How does he know?_ "How do you know that?" 

"Duh. It's on the teacher's list. Miss Jarowick teaches the third grade and Mr. Stravinsky teaches the fifth grade." Then, "Lonnie, you're in the first grade, so you must have Mrs. Steepleman as your teacher." 

"Wow, he knows _everything_," she whisphered, awed. Then the bell rang again. The kids' respective teachers came to them. 

"Mr. DeLeo!" boomed Mr. Stravinsky, a strapping young blond man in a red and white jacket with a letter "N" on the front and his last name on the back. He wore a white shirt and black pants under the jacket, with a red tie, black socks, black belt and black loafers. "You get into class this instant!!" 

"Yes, Mr. Stravinsky!" hollered Luke as he dashed through a blue set of double doors, yelling "See you at the park tomorrow!!" to Keisha and Lonnie. 

"The same for you, young lady!" bellowed Mrs. Steepleman, in a white blouse and long flower skirt, almost covering her black platform shoes. She had her brown hair done in a bun, grandma-style, and wore glasses. She looked 60 years old. She grabbed Lonnie's arm and pulled her through the doors. 

"Well, Keisha, it's time for us to go in before school's out. You don't want to keep your classmates waiting," said Miss Jarowick. She looked about 25 years old, with short red hair that she left down, green eyes to stare at with envy, and a fair complexion with a sprinkling of freckles on each cheek. Her lips were not large, but not small, either, and she had a button nose. Miss Jarowick was wearing a red sweater over her black pants, and she wore black socks and black boots with a black belt and she carried a black purse. 

"Okay," said Keisha. Miss Jarowick is the nicest teacher and staff member of all the faculty and staff of News World Public School. Keisha was lucky to have her as a teacher. She took Miss Jarowick's hand and led her inside the building. 

That evening at the Palace of Power... 

"Who did you play with, Keisha?" asked Lana, whom everyone nicknamed her "Mom". 

"Some new boy named Luke, Mom -- I mean, Your Majesty." 

"Please, Keisha, just call me Lana. Not 'Your Majesty', not 'Mom', not anything else. Okay?" 

"Okay, Lana." 

"Hi, Keisha! Hi, Mom!" Alex sauntered into the room holding a tray with two glasses of milk and a plate of video-chip cookies. Then, in his best June Cleaver voice, he announced: "Milk and cookies, anyone?" 

"Please, I don't know what is it with everyone and 'Mom'! Just call me Lana, okay? Lana!" Lana complained. 

Alex set the tray on the table next to the TV set. Then he stood up and said, arms along his sides, using his Jeeves impression: "Milk and cookies are served, Your Majesty!" and sauntered off to his room. 

"He's a pain! I don't know how he got here!" muttered Lana. Keisha waited for her. 

"Are you okay, Lana?" asked Keisha. 

"Yeah," she answered. "Now let's get back to Luke." 

"Okay." 

The two sat down on the couch. Not long after they settled with the milk and cookies, Armina and Simon passed by, dressed for a vampire's party. "Hello, Mom!" Armina greeted Lana, cheerfully. 

"Greetings, Your Momliness!!" was Simon's greeting. 

"Mega-hi, Mega-Mom!" Mega Man appeared from another entrance. 

"Hello, Momicus!" Kid Icarus flew in from an air vent, obviously spying on everyone that day. Lana groaned. 

"This is going to be one very long night!" she moaned. 

The next day... 

"Bye, everyone!! I'll be back for dinner!" Keisha yelled as she dashed out the Palace Doors. Lana called out after her, "Where are you going?" 

Keisha forgot. She slapped her head with her hand and told her, "Luke said he'd meet us at the News World Park. I'm going get Lonnie and we're going to meet him there." 

"Wait!" cried Lana as she raced after her. "I'm coming, too. I want to meet this Luke, and who knows what could happen to you and Lonnie if you two are alone with him!!" 

"All right, you're the Queen," Keisha sighed. "Lonnie's staying with her uncle this weekend. We'll catch her at the lab." 

At the lab... 

"No, Lonnie!" said a stern Dr. Right. "You may not go to the park today." 

"But Uncle, my friend is waiting there for me! Please, can I go?" 

"Of course not, my dear. You don't know what kind of trouble you could get yourself into. I know you can handle monsters and witches, but being alone with a boy is a danger on its own for a little girl like you." 

"I'M NOT A LITTLE GIRL!!" she shouted. "I'm six years old, uncle. I can take care of myself!!" 

"Still, this is out of the question!" he stated firmly, "No niece of mine is going alone with her friends to meet a boy that she's never known!" 

"She won't be alone, Dr. Right," boasted Lana, "She's coming with Keisha and me." 

"Your Majesty," he bowed, "please, I beseech you, you don't know what troubles await young girls like my niece. She doesn't know the dangers that older boys pose to little girls." 

"From what I heard, Luke is not an aggressive boy. He's new to News World, and thus, would not know how things work there." 

"If you insist," he resigned, "but I would like to have her back for supper. I love Lonnie, and I don't want her to be hurt." 

"She'll be fine," assured Lana, as she escorted the two girls to the News World warp. "We'll guard her with our lives." 

At the park... 

"Hi, everyone!" cried Luke, running towards the girls. He wore a brown sweater and blue jeans, with white socks and white sneakers. He knelt before the Queen upon noticing her. 

"That's okay, stand up." He rose. "So you must be Luke DeLeo." 

"Yes, Your Majesty. I am the one," responded the blond boy. Then Lana noticed his square hair. 

"Your hair," she commented, "it's square, but the rest of you is round." 

"Yeah, I know," he answered. "My mom's all square. She's the only square person in News World. Kinda makes you lonely." 

"Your mother must be from Tetris, then, right?" asked Keisha. 

"Right, she is." 

"Then what's this about you, then? Are you adopted?" 

"No, she's my birth mother. She taped this video about me being born, and she showed it to me." Then he added, "Check out my head. It's square, and so's every strand of hair, but everything else is round." 

Lana, Lonnie and Keisha felt his hair. Sure enough, each strand felt like a 3-D rectangular extension. Lonnie then asked, "Who's your dad?" 

"That's why I asked you guys to meet me here!" Luke surprised everyone. "To meet my dad! I'm going back to Tetris to stay with him for the weekend." 

"Yeah, you sure are," Lana whispered, suspicious of the way the boy looked. _He looks like Lyle,_ she thought, but maintained a happy face on the outside. _I better watch out for him._

"Somebody looking for a lift to Tetris?" shouted a familiar male voice. Everyone turned their heads to see a tall, blond man approaching the group. "Is this a private party, or can any Keeper of the Sacred Square join?" 

"DAD!!!!" Luke rushed into the man's waiting arms. The man lifted Luke high in the sky before setting him down, both smiling. He turned to the Queen, and said, "Hi, sis!" 

"Lyle? Lyle!!" she cried out and hugged her brother. "You're Luke's father?" 

"Surprise!" was his answer. "Actually, I only knew he was my son about three years ago. I was going to tell you, but you're too busy to hear anyone out these days." 

"Some people back at Tetris were teasing me because of my roundness, so how could I be a child of a square person? And Prince Lyle didn't have a social life, or so I was told, so he couldn't have been my father. So they thought I was some weird experiment gone wrong. Turns out they were wrong," Luke explained: "Some ten years ago, Dad ran away from the Palace. He then came to Tetris and had fun with some girls, and met Mom. The two began dating for a couple of months, and then they married and I was conceived and born to them. But Mom said his demanding job as the Keeper of the Sacred Square was keeping him away from us, so she got a divorce. That does NOT happen in Tetris, let me tell you that, so everyone treated Mom as an outcast, since she's the one who asked for a divorce. She put up with it for ten years, until people started kicking me in the ass. Then she scrambled to get off Tetris, and found a job in News World. I found out three years ago that he's my dad when Mom told me after I wanted to go to some father-son event, but could not find a dad to take me there. Then I found Dad at that picnic and we talked. After that, Mom and Dad decided that I should spend weekends with him, and the rest with her, and that's how I came to be here!" 

"Yeah," added Lyle, "my job was too much for Kyla to take, so she did the most horrible thing in Tetris, and that was to divorce me. Then three years ago, I found out about Luke when Kyla phoned me and asked me to take him out. I mean, I was only there for the birth process! I haven't seen the baby since then! But she said that he's my son, and after the picnic was over, I took a paternity test. The answer was a definite yes. I was his father, and there was nothing that I could do about to 'fix' it. Now I like things the way they are!" 

"I'm glad, Lyle, very glad," responded Lana. "Lyle, you called me 'sis', right?" 

"You're my sister, of course!" 

"Then that would make me Luke's aunt, right?" 

"Uhh, yes. Definitely yes!" 

"You're my AUNT??" Luke squealed. "This is so cool!! Queen Lana's my aunt!! What shall I call you?" 

"Anything but 'Mom' will do!" 

"Okay, Auntie Lana, then." 

"Okay. That's better." 

Keisha, Lana, Lonnie, Lyle and Luke both headed for Spritzer's, a favourite hangout with News World kids, for fruit spritzers and milkshakes. Lana ordered a Swingin' Strawberry spritzer, Lyle had a Peach Paradise, Lonnie had an Apple Avalanche spritzer and Keisha and Luke both had Rocky Road milkshakes. Keisha noted someone behind her drinking a Crazy Cranberry spritzer. Lana asked the woman at the cash register: "What other flavours do you have for spritzers?" 

She answered: "We also have Banana Beach, Pineapple Passion, Pear Parfait, Blueberry Blues, Grapefruit Gripes, Grape Grenades, Raspberry Ranch, Oppy-Boppy Orange, Lovesick Lemonade, Alien Apricot, Alpine Avocado, Coconut Crush, Tangerine Twister, Naughty Nectarine, Monster Mango, Pomegranate Pushover and Double Date." 

"Thanks for the input," said a bewildered Lana who made to her seat as fast as a runner on steroids. "That's about a total of 21 flavours!" she whisphered to the gang, all sipping on their drinks. 

"That's how they make business," answered Keisha. "They make it so kids will go there to drink their stuff." 

"Yeah, it's popular for the drinks they serve," added Luke. "I should know. I've seen it the day we moved here." 

"Well, let's get your stuff and go to my apartment, son. I'll protect you from those nasty kids back at Tetris," Lyle announced. "When we're there, we can have dinner at Cubies!" 

"'The best square meal in all of Tetris!'" Lana mimicked Mayor Squaresly's boast about Tetris's most popular restaurant. 

"Fine, but I gotta clear it with my uncle first," said Lonnie. 

At a payphone near the warp to Tetris... 

"Uncle Thomas, can I go have dinner at Cubies with Queen Lana and Prince Lyle and Luke and Keisha?" Lonnie asked, with the receiver in her hand. 

"Well, supper's not going to be the same now that I've made your favourite. Besides, haven't you already gone out for supper every day for the past week?" asked Dr. Right from his lab. 

"Yeah," she answered. 

"We also have that project that we have to finish before your bedtime, Lonnie. I can't do it alone, and only you know the formula that we need, and we can't do it over the phone." 

"O.K., uncle, I'll go home now." She hung up. "I gotta go home to Megaland now. Uncle Thomas wants me to help him on this project, but it's a surprise!" 

"We understand," said Luke. "I guess we make one more stop before going to Tetris." 

"I agree," said Lana. "Time to head back to Megaland." 

In Dr. Right's Lab... 

"Oh, thank you very much for protecting my niece and making sure she comes back home in one piece!!" grovelled the doctor. "I will always be forever in your debt!" 

"No need to thank us, doctor," answered Lana, "protecting people is what we do." 

"Still, I must thank you for taking good care of her, what with all this evil going on here in Videoland. I can't always look after her and protect her myself, you know." 

"We have an intruder!" shouted Luke as the alarms went off. "Oh, crap! Just what we need! A party crasher!" 

The screen showed a black guy's back to the camera. He seemed bewildered, and he ran this way and that. Lana knew the room that he was in and she, Lyle, Luke and Keisha dashed to where the man was. 

"Where am I?" asked the man, his back to the four. He was wearing a black-and-white football jersey and blue jeans with white sneakers. "What the hell am I doing here?" 

"DeeJay," asked the Queen, "is that you? If it is, then why do you have a jersey? You always like to bare your chest. And your feet." 

"DeeJay? Who the hell is DeeJay?" The man turned his brawny back around to show a familiar face. "My name's Walker. Rick Walker." 

Lana gasped. Lyle and the kids were confused. "You know him?" asked Keisha. 

"He's a friend of Kevin's, you know, the original Captain N?" To Rick, she asked. "How did you get here?" 

"That's the project," answered Lonnie at the door. "Football World needed a new player. Uncle Thomas knew the best one in Northridge, so we pulled him in. Now my job is to make this guy comfortable, so he would be ready to play for the VFL." 

"Okay, Rick, do you remember me?" asked Lana. 

"I think so, the doc just gave me a memory boost," he answered. "It'll settle within an hour. Then I'll know." 

"Maybe all of us can discuss this at Cubies," said Lyle. "I know we all must be hungry now, and I would like to hear more about this 'project'." 

"Yeah!" everyone chorused. 

At Cubies... 

"That square salad's the best!" bragged Keisha. "I don't know how they do it!" 

"Tell me about it." Lana was scarfing a salad a second. "How do they do it?" 

"I don't know which of you's worse!" exclaimed Luke. "you and your salads or Dad and his square-bone steaks!" 

"I don't know about you, Luke, but I could surely scarf down more than those two combined!!" boasted Rick, twirling his cubic spaghetti with a fork. "Spaghetti with meatcubes sure beats the one with meatballs anytime!" 

"I wonder what's for dessert?" asked Lonnie. "Now, dear, don't spoil your appetite just yet," warned the doctor. "We still have the square pancakes that you haven't touched yet." 

"Okay." 

"What's your situation, Rick? Is Kevin all right at home?" asked Lana. 

"I don't know yet. I thought he was still in Videoland." His answer shocked the entire group. "But I'm sure he's doing fine, wherever he is." 

"But we just sent him home six years ago!! You sure about this?" 

"Definitely. He's so gone, that Stacey gave up on him and married someone else!" 

"She did?" 

"Yeah. I was there at the wedding, as were Romeo and the others." 

"What happened to Mike Vincent?" 

"That's the guy she married!" 

Lana was shocked. "I don't believe it. My boyfriend's human mortal enemy and his airheaded admirer goes and marries him!" 

"Yeah, I know! But of Kevin, I have no idea where he is, or even if he's alive." 

"Who's up for cake?" Lyle asked, breaking the train of thought. Everyone raised his or her hand. Then cake was served, and Lyle had his face down in it when Luke smacked his back, saying, "Thanks, dad!! I love you and I owe you one!" 

"You certainly do!" he shouted with cake on his face. "But I love you, too!" 

And the rest of the day went on as normal as usual. Lana and Keisha went back to the Palace, only to be greeted with "Hi, Mom!" from everyone there. 

"Hi, all!" she laughed at their useless attempts to humiliate her. 

"Lana, you okay?" asked Alex. "Actually, I'm just peachy." 

"You okay with us calling you Mom?" 

"You know, after seeing Luke's dad, being Mom isn't so bad after all!" And she plopped down on the couch to watch some late night soap operas, smiling as everyone, including Keisha, stood there, staring at her with their mouths agape. 

GAME OVER 


	5. Memories

Memories "IT'S GONNA BLOW!!!" cried someone about Bison's palace. 

"We gotta get out before the explosion!! Alex, any ideas?" asked Armina as the N Team raced to find the exit to the building. 

Alex spotted an exit. "There's one!! Right there near those front doors!!!" he yelled. The Team dashed to the golden doors that were about to close, but Armand, with his sledgehammer kept them open. Sandra and Keisha held open the doors while the rest busied themselves with the guards and screaming people. Armina and Roberta kept fifty guards at bay, while Lana, Simon, Kid Icarus, Mega Man and Greg hustled the people to safety. The boys were outside making sure that the people got out all right. When all of the people had left, the Team members began to file out. It was only then that Roberta heard a soft cry. She followed the sound, and gasped. 

The sound came from a wounded Cammy. "Cammy!!! You're hurt!!" she cried, tending to her wounds. 

"I'm fine, Roberta," she answered, "I've been in worse scrapes than this." 

"We're getting you to a hospital, now." 

"Roberta!!! Get out now!!!" was Armina's cry. 

"We're coming!!" She hoisted Cammy on her shoulder and flew out with her butterfly wings as fast as she can. Then the palace exploded as they, the last two good people, flew out just in time to survive it. 

At the Shadaloo hospital... 

"She's suffered some major burns and bruises, but I think in a month's time, she'll be okay," the doctor suggested as Cammy lay on her bed. "We gave her a sedative, so she won't run around and hurt herself." 

"Thank you, doctor," Lana replied. "Cammy was our informant and leader for that mission. I'm just glad she survived." 

"She also seemed to have some memory fragments, too. If there's any hope of regaining her memory, now is the chance." 

"We'll see what we can do to make her feel better." 

"Cammy, can you hear me?" asked Keisha. 

"Yes, I hear you loud and clear." 

"Do you remember what happened to the palace?" 

"It blew up. Bison put the bomb on timer." 

"Do you know why?" 

"He must have seen my face when we were freeing the hostages. I know because he said something about getting back at me." 

"Why would he say that?" 

"I don't know. I can't remember anything before that plane wreck, before the British Intelligence found me." 

"Why are you named Cammy?" asked Alex, hoping that she'd remember that. 

"I don't know," she replied with frustration. 

"You don't remember anything before the wreck, anything at all?" asked Lana. 

"Now that you mention it," Cammy replied, "there are some images in my mind that I don't understand." 

"Like what?" 

"Like why I'm saluting Bison when I've just killed 300 people." Cammy searched deeper into her mind. "Like why I stood on, watching with a smile as Bison killed a couple of people. I remember the woman's face. She looked like me. And the man ... it's like we're close, you know. I also remember making faces at the guts of the two bodies. So gross!!!" A picture appeared in her mind, of Bison, brutally murdering the two people that she described. A young Cammy was smiling, and only made a face when Bison pulled out the bleeding organs of the two bodies for her to see. The woman was young and resembled Cammy. The man was also young and thin. He looked old enough, though, to be her father. Maybe he was, but this Cammy would not remember him. 

"Is there any more?" asked Alex. 

"No. Please leave me now. I want to rest." 

They did as she requested and left for the Palace. 

That night... 

"Armina, what's wrong?" Lana asked a troubled Armina, sitting on the couch and moping. 

"I don't know. Can we call a group forum?" 

"Sure, why not?" 

When everyone assembled in the living room, Armina looked at all the troubled faces, and she knew what things that Cammy's memories had brought up. 

"I know what you all must be here for," she said. "It's Cammy's memories that brought up our own painful pasts. I want you to tell everyone here what you told us back home. Maybe then we'll all feel better. Keisha, you may go first." 

"Okay," she said. "Here it is: I was born on June 15, 1990, to my mom, sister Moni and brother Damien. I never knew my dad, just that we would be in big trouble if Mom got caught, or something. Well, the highlight is this. It started on a cold, gloomy night when the cops came." 

April 17, 1996 

A doorbell sounded. 

"Who's there?" asked Keisha in a red sundress. She went to open the door. 

"No, Keisha," cautioned her brother, Damien, in a grey sweater and blue jeans. 

"Don't. You never know who's behind the door." 

"Open up!! This is the police!!! Open up now!!!" called a male voice. 

"Go check for Mom. Hide her if you have to!!" ordered Damien. 

Keisha went upstairs. Unfortunately, the police heard her brother, and broke the door down. A female officer searched the area while the man shoved the youth against a wall and handcuffed him. 

Upstairs, Keisha found her mom in her room. 

"Mommy!! Mommy!! Mommy!! We gotta go now!! They're here!!" Keisha's mother, a tall, slender woman of 30, got up from her bed and looked downstairs. She shouldn't have. 

"My boy!! They got my boy!" she cried as the man led Damien to the car and arrested him. She thundered down the stairs, despite her little girl's efforts to keep her upstairs. Moni came from her study, saying "What's going on?" Then she cried "MOM!!!" and burst into tears as the cops led her mother away. 

"Abigail Davenport, you are under arrest for the murder of Steven Davenport, for illegal possession of a weapon, and for possession of marijuana," informed the female cop. "You have the right to remain silent. If you deny the right, then anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You also have the right to an attorney..." 

A cop stayed with the kids for the night, and Damien was released on that same day, to the crying arms of his two sisters. 

"Since then, we were never the same. Moni already had an office job, and it was this job that gave us money to live on, so we were okay financially, but there were other things that we couldn't live without, so Damien dropped out of school to get a full-time job. Then court came and found my mom guilty. I would never see her again, because we had to move to Toronto because Moni's company moved. Damien knows some of the guys at the arcades, so that's how I got to play. We had to leave all luxuries like NES systems behind. And that's what I've got for a story." 

"I know how I got to Dexter's Lab," said Sandra. "Well, you see, I was from a prestigious school, you know, and they put a lot of pressure on you to do great. Not good, but perfect. I was a slacker, though. Even though I got good grades, I enjoyed playing video games, but that wasn't enough for my super-strict mom. I'll tell you of the day I ended up at the Lab..." 

May 14, 1995... 

"Sandra Tolera!!" boomed her mother at the bottom of the stairs. "Get your butt down here, this instant!!!" 

"Coming!!" Sandra finished the game of Donkey Kong on her NES, and fled down the stairs to meet her ungodly mother. 

"You bitch!!! Look at your test!!!" she bellowed. It was an A. 

"So it's an A. What's the big deal?" 

"THE BIG DEAL IS THAT IF YOU DON'T GET AN A+, YOU WON'T GO TO HARVARD, AND WE CAN'T MARRY YOU TO RICH DIAMOND, THAT'S WHAT!!!" 

"Oh, like you want a robot for a daughter, do you?" 

"Maybe if you stop playing those stupid games and started studying more, we wouldn't have this fight!!" 

"Yeah, well I need time to relax. All work and no play sure doesn't make me productive!!" 

"Don't you talk back to me like that, young lady!!" Mom was on the verge of breaking down. "My daughter would listen to me, understand???" 

"Then maybe I'm NOT your daughter!!!" 

"YOU BITCH, TAKE THAT BACK NOW!!!! I'M YOUR MOTHER, YOU DO AS I SAY!!!" 

"NEWS FLASH!!!! YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!!!" 

"I don't know how many times we had that fight, but that was the last I saw of her. The next thing you know, Dexter showed up at school, and I was not on speaking terms with my mother. I poured out my sorrows and he offered to set me up in NASA. I was like, 'Shit!' I couldn't get consent since I have no dad, and it was Mom and me, so I just packed up when she wasn't around and left. I didn't leave a note, so the cops came and I told them to tell her that she can stuff her face with more food because the last thing I wanted was to kiss up to her fat ass again." 

"I've got a story," offered Roberta. "This will surprise everyone. I wasn't always the English freak that you see today. I wasn't always into literature. You see, my parents wanted me in the sciences, and I wanted to be there, too. However, my grades in high school were poor for math and science, and excellent in English and English Writing." She paused. "But my parents wanted more. They were like 'Show those white people'! I didn't want to show anyone anything. I just wanted to be myself, a teenage girl who loved shopping and friends. But come University, I had to choose my major..." 

April 31, 1989... 

"So, Roberta, which science major are you going to choose for university?" asked her mother. 

"Ummm, I don't know..." she answered. 

"You have to decide soon, dear. Your application's due next week." 

"I know, Mother, but I can't decide on any major." 

Roberta's mother pulled out a pamphet showing mechanical engineers. "Here's a good one. Mechanical Engineering." 

"No, not that one," Roberta declined. 

"Computer Science?" 

"No, not that one either," 

"Math? Physics? Genetic Engineering?" 

"No, sorry." 

"Well, you have until next week to decide, but I hate to leave things at the last minute." She left the room. 

That night, Roberta had a dream. She was standing in the downtown campus of the University of Toronto, and an English professor came to her. 

"Roberta," he said to her. 

"How do you know my name?" she asked him. 

"You're one of my students. The best. How can I forget my best student?" 

"I'm in U of T. But if you're my professor, then, what do you teach?" 

"Now, don't tell me that you forgot your major. It would be a sin to forget that." He smiled. "You're a student in the Department of English and English Literature. You're in my class, and we have an essay due in two weeks. I know you'll do your best, because you like this major." 

"English?? Not Computer Science??" 

He laughed. "You? A computer scientist? Surely you jest!! No, you're an _artiste_, someone who is not limited by today's technology. It's in your blood." Then he walked away and Roberta woke up. 

"That's when I enrolled into the University of Toronto, with my major as English. My parents weren't as thrilled, but I persevered and here I am now." 

"Pretty lame for a painful past, Roberta," commented Alex. "You look like you've had a happy life." 

"It was a shocking revelation, that dream," Roberta answered him, "but it was painful because I had to give up what I wanted to follow my calling." 

"Like a young girl gives up her social life to be a nun," said Carrie. "My parents were killed in a car crash when I was 8. That was about ten years ago. I lived with my grandparents since then. Boy, were they so old!! Not old physically, but their view on men and women were so ancient, I couldn't bear it anymore. I wanted to take sports, but they said a girl shouldn't do guy things, and to them, sports was a guy thing. So they tolerated all the mandatory stuff up to grade 10. Then I had to follow their rules. I did for two years, immersing myself in sports games when they weren't around. Then, with the help of my boyfriend, Rick Woo, I finally stood up to my grandparents. I didn't get the reaction that I expected..." 

September 9, 1997... 

"I'm taking gym class, Grandmother. The one that involves football, baseball, and stuff." she announced to a shocked Grandmother as she came home from school. 

"This can't be!!! How could you defy the role of woman?" she asked, angrily. 

"Times change. So does the role of woman." 

"So you say that woman is to take man's games?!?!?" 

"What's going on, Ah-Lai?" Grandfather came down the stairs. 

"Our granddaughter dares to defy the role of woman and dishonour us!!" 

"WHAT!?!" he shouted. 

"I do not mean any dishonour, Grandfather," said Carrie, "Even in China women work outside the home. Even in Hong Kong, you see working women. Here, women can do more. And I am going to have my cake and eat it, too." 

"Who is doing this to you?? Who??" asked Grandmother. "I have had this desire to be myself since my parents died. They taught me to live to the fullest, which is why we moved to Canada. Rick Woo, the son of the Chinese president who is studying here, has encouraged me to live on after Mother and Father died." 

"Rick Woo??? That nice boy, Rick Woo??" said an astonished Grandfather. "I cannot allow this! Either you quit sports or you go away and never come back!!" 

Rick came to her side. She cried on his shoulder. "Get my bags, Rick." she commanded. He obliged and came back with packed suitcases. "Well, if this is what you want, then you've lost your only grandchild. Good-bye." She hauled her bags to her car, and Rick to his car. Carrie drove off. 

"And I never saw them again," she sobbed, "for the next few days I drove to almost every state in America and parked my car at the NASA parking lot. Rick had packed my passport, lucky me. Fresh from home, I didn't know what to expect, but Lonnie and some scientists helped me out of the car and showed me to you guys, and helped me train there." 

"You must be some gutsy girl," commented Alex, "Here's my story. I was born on the reserve to a native Cree woman and a rich American man. I never really got anything tragic except for those that you know. But here's the scoop. All the sad stuff happened after I joined the Defenders and became the leader. I was an inexperienced snob, you see. I was raised in a mansion with people tending to my needs. So you can guess my surprise when I had to do stuff for myself. Then there was that jail incident. And the FBI stuff, you really don't wanna know the rest, so I'll stop there." 

"OK, Armand and I saved our story last," said Armina. "Armand was 13 when Dad screamed him out of his mind for hanging with gay people, even though he's like, not gay..." 

December 15, 1987... 

"I can't believe you're going with those freaks!!" shouted Dad. "They're abnormal, they're evil!! What's with you, son??" 

"First off, Dad, they're not freaks. They're my friends!!" defended Armand. 

"Those assholes???" 

"Just because they're gay doesn't mean they're evil, Dad. You got them all wrong!" 

"Maybe I have YOU all wrong, you son-of-a-bitch!!" he cursed his son. "Maybe YOU'RE one of THEM!!!" 

"That's not true!! I don't have to be gay to have gay friends!!!" Armand shouted back. 

His father then whispered in a tone that was trouble. "If you don't ditch these friends, then I'll ditch you, ya catch my drift??" Armand said nothing. 

"That fight would repeat itself until the day I ran away, which was two months after the fact," Armand stated. "Then I met this guy that had some money, and he put me up for all of high school. At night, though, I heard him fooling around with the girls that he said were his friends, but later found that they were prostitutes, and that he was a pimp. The climax came when my sister burst into the room and caught me and some girl having sex with him watching us." 

"That girl was a friend of mine," Armina followed him. "Her name was Nicole and she went missing. I was looking for her and my brother. My brother, as soon as he disappeared, and Nicole, as soon as she was on the news. I hit the street, hoping to find them and I did and it was shocking..." 

November 14, 1992 

"Stop it!!" cried Nicole. "Stop it!! You're hurting me!!" 

"No way!!" cried a man. "No!! Go further!!" 

"No!! I want it to stop!!" she cried. 

"Ignore the bitch!! Go for her ass!!" 

Armand was on top of Nicole, speechless and half-naked, as was Nicole. The man coaching him to have sex was the pimp that he was living with. Nicole screamed, and Armand was scared. He backed off. 

"NOO!!!" shouted the guy, who proceeded to whack both of them. "You idiot!! You're supposed to fuck her!!" 

"I don't know what that word means, Gordon," answered Armand, "but I'm not going to lay another hand on this woman." 

"Listen to my brother!!" shouted Armina at the door. "He means business!" 

"Your brother??" cried Gordon, and he attacked her. Armand and Nicole got away, and Armina followed, leaving a bloody Gordon behind." 

"We got Nicole back to her folks, but we could never face our dad again," stated Armina. "So Armand and I hit the streets, this time, as aimless wanderers, trying to find a life." 

"Yeah," Armand chipped in, "It took us almost six years to find good friends like you, and Armina became a great leader, even though we were the last to join you. I personally believe that it was sibling love that helped us endure everything." 

"I agree, dear brother. I couldn't live on without you to support me." 

"Same for you, dear sister." 

"Well, let's call it a night, and see if Cammy's all better in the morning," announced Lana. "Those were very touching stories, and when we have time, maybe I can tell you my story." 

Then everyone went to bed. In the morning... 

"Doctor? This is Queen Lana ... She's all right?? She's here?? Good, let's see her!" 

Cammy walked in to see the Queen. Everyone gathered around her. 

"Nothing like Megaland medicine to get the body up and running," she commented. "How was your night?" 

"First off, do you still remember your past?" asked Keisha. 

Cammy's face fell. "Yeah. A bit, but it doesn't matter anymore. I just can't believe Bison murdered my parents!!! Then he got me and trained me, but I still can't believe it!!!" 

"Don't worry, you'll remember in time!" said Armina. 

"But I have to know, how was your night?? Were you okay, or did you stay up worrying about me?" 

"Well, let me put it this way," Roberta put her arm around Cammy. "It was a memorable night, one we'll definitely remember!" 

GAME OVER   
  



	6. Time Warped! Part 1

Time Warped! "HA HA HA HA!!!" cried an exuberant Mother Brain in her room. "When this time warp is finished, all our problems with the N Team will be gone!!" 

"Yes, that, and the N Team as well!!" chuckled Angela, who was surveying the renovations being done to Metroid. "Hey, Doctor!" she called to Dr. Wily, the head of the science department. 

"What do you want, woman? I'm busy!!" he called back. 

"Perhaps it's time for a refresher course," Angela shot back, "or would you like to have me introduce to you the graduates from my warrior school? I hear they graduated with top honours, and you know how good my school is." 

Wily shuddered. He knew those students had razor-sharp skills, and were armed to the teeth with magic. "All right!! All right!! I'll show you!!" He walked to the machine and revealed it from under a blanket. It was red and pulsing with energy. "This is the TW-2000. TW stands for 'Time Warp'. You just step right in and it will lock you in a time warp for a time period ranging from 1 second to infinity! I plan to use it on the N Team, for infinity, of course!!" 

"And the drawbacks?" 

"You can only send up to a maximum of six people to a time warp, and then it needs 24 hours to recharge. At infinity setting, that is." 

"Great! THE N-TEAM HAS MORE THAN SIX MEMBERS, DR. IDIOT!!" shouted Mother Brain, grabbing Wily with one of her tentacles and hanging him upside-down in the air. "How are we supposed to get six of them in there, while keeping the rest at bay?" 

"Put me down, and I'll show you the answer!" gasped Wily. Mother Brain dropped him on the floor. Angela laughed, pointing at Wily. 

"This is the portable dungeon, that I and my team were finishing as part of Metroid's renovations plan," he dusted himself off. "It can hold up to 20 people, and it's made of adamaantium metals so no one can break through it!" He held up a silver box, and pulled the string. The box expanded to become a massive, grey metal dungeon with 3-metre thick glass and metal walls. Then Wily tossed a huge piece of junk in there, closed the box, and pressed a red button. The dungeon shrank into a tiny box again, and the string appeared at its right. He jiggled the box, and the noise of the junk could be heard. "It even comes with infinite life support, so we can keep them alive and tortured for as long as we want!!" 

"Excellent!" cried Mother Brain. "Let's find some N Team nitwits to try that baby on!!" She pointed to the time warp, and everyone laughed evilly. 

"All right! Get ready to rock!" cried Alex as he jammed on his electric guitar. An E chord strung its way out of the room he shared with Simon and Armand. His roommates winced in pain. 

"You could at least have the decency to keep that blasted music down!!!" shouted Simon above the noise. Alex just kept playing. 

"Aww, come on, guys!! What's a little music, huh?" He played an F chord, equally painful to the ear. 

"If you ask me," whisphered Armand to Simon as they huddled in a corner in their room, "Her Majesty should have heeded our warnings and should NOT have let Mr. Party Man install the amplifiers here!" 

"If you ask ME," answered Simon, "he's worse than the original Captain N!!! At least he never played any music in this room with me!" 

"What's up with you guys??" asked Alex, stopping the music, momentarily. "Mr. Guitar just wants to play!" He put on the puppy face, which disgusted his roommates. 

"Alex, if you don't stop this madness now, I'll have no choice but to introduce Mr. Guitar to Mr. Hammer and Mr. Whip!" Armand wielded his hammer, and Simon wielded his whip. 

"Aww, you guys are no fun at all!!" Alex put down his guitar, which was black with steel strings. 

"Um, boys," Lana popped her head through the open door, "are you done playing? Because we've got a real emergency that needs some grown-up help right now!" 

"On my way, Your Lovliness!" answered Simon, with Alex mimicking him with his hands behind his back. Armand shoved him forward and marched on. 

"Queen Lana!" boasted Mother Brain on the viewer as soon as she and the boys got there. "I've decided to start peace negotiations with you, and to honour that, I'm throwing a party in your honour at the Megaland Convention Center. It's at 7:00pm, tonight! What do you say?" 

"I say you're up to something, Mother Brain!" retorted the Queen. "Unless I have proof of your suggestion, I cannot go to the party. I don't want to end up walking into another trap!" 

"Oh, I assure you it's no trap at all! I will be there with my people, and you will be there with yours! Sounds fair enough!" 

"It sure seems fair. I'll check back with you later." She turned off the viewer. 

"No way, Lana!" Keisha warned her. "There's no way you can go there, without her doing something bad to you!" 

"She's right, Your Majesty," agreed Armina. "We can't go. Who knows what she might cook up for us when we're there?" 

"This matter requires serious consideration, Lana," said Roberta. 

"Yeah, you never know who's gonna be there!" Sandra chipped in. 

"You're too important for us to lose, Lana," commented Carrie. 

"This offer is too dangerous!" shouted Armand. "You could get killed!" 

"I agree with that!" piped Greg, and Mega Man nodded in agreement. 

Looking around, Alex saw faces of disapproval. "I think I speak for everyone when I say, 'Screw it!'" 

"Look, you guys," shot the Queen, "this is for business only. I don't like it as much as you do, but I have to see if she really is telling the truth! The only way for me to do that is for us to go to the party and see for ourselves." 

"The TRUTH? Mother Brain?" laughed Alex. "I don't think so!" 

Lana turned to face him. "If you don't agree with me, Alex, that's fine. However, there is that slight chance that what she's saying about a truce may be true. Either she's surrendered or she's up to something, but we can't know unless we go there. Now, are you all with me or not?" 

"If you say so," shrugged Carrie, "but you're making a big mistake." 

"Trust me." 

At the Megaland Convention Centre... 

"Your Majesty!" cried a smiling Mother Brain, "how WONDERFUL it is to have you here!" 

"Yeah. Likewise," sighed the Queen in a shiny black dress and matching flats. She wore a silver crown, studded with diamonds, the one she always wore to parties since her coronation. 

"You aren't so happy!" said Mother Brain, seeming quite concerned. 

"Think of it, Mother Brain. For so long, you have been trying to rule Videoland, and now you want peace. I'm just having a hard time getting used to all this!" 

"I know I've been selfish for too long, Your Majesty," cooed the brain, "but I assure you, everything's all changed! You're seeing a new Mother Brain now!" She wheeled away to a secret room. 

"A new and IMPROVED Mother Brain, that is, if those two kooks don't mess everything up between now and tomorrow!" She turned to a viewer. "Wily!! Aino!!" The two scientists appeared on the screen. 

"You called, Mother Brain?" asked Angela. 

"Have that time warp ready before the big closing!! I'll try to stall the party, while you both get here on time!" 

"Understood." The screen went blank. 

"Damn! I wish King Hippo and that Wizard were here, instead of incompetents that call themselves scientists! At least they grovelled at my base!" 

Later... 

Keisha, in a golden gown, was dancing with Luke for the party's final dance, while Armina sashayed her blue dress around Simon Belmont, and Alex and Sandra whooped it up in white outfits. Roberta and Dr. Right were having an intelligent discussion on the Theory of Relativity, and Carrie surveyed the dance floor for available cute guys. Armand and Lana wound up as the centre of attention, waltzing together and both oblivious to the outside world. 

"You know, it's almost as though this were just another ball," commented Armand. "All those lights, that music -- it's as though we're just here to have fun." 

"But you're here, too," replied the Queen, "and you're dancing with me, the Queen, so it should make this dance feel quite -- special." They kissed. It was long and sweet. 

When the dance was over, Mother Brain had a special announcement: "I would like to present to you, Your Majesty, this dimensional traveller!!" She unveiled the time warp. Everyone was awed. "As an apology present for screwing with your lives since 1982, this device can take you to any world you want!! You name it, it goes there!" 

"Thank you, Mother Brain, and I accept your apology. It means so much to me," She stepped into the machine. 

"Wait!!" she cried. "This machine can also take five of your friends with you! You sure don't want them to miss out, do you?" 

"No," Lana hesitated, "I wouldn't. Any one of you coming?" 

"I don't know," said Keisha. "It could be a trap!" The Defenders nodded in agreement. 

"Simon Belmont can tackle any trap he meets!" He barged into the machine. "Don't worry, Your Queenliness!! Simon Belmont will protect you!!" 

"If Simon's going, then we better go," Mega Man nudged Kid Icarus. 

"Right-icus! We don't want the Queen to be in more trouble than she already is!" They marched inside, with Duke and Gameboy following. Mother Brain shut the gate. 

"And now, you will all witness their first destination," she bellowed to the others, "right into a time warp that they'll never escape!!!" 

Everyone gasped. 

"You tricked us!" cried Keisha. "I knew it was a trap!!" 

"Yup, and you're next!" she disappeared. Soon it was: "Is it just me, or is the entire room getting bigger?" 

"Uh-oh..," said Armina, "I think _we're_ getting smaller!" 

"That's correct!" boomed Wily's voice on the PA system. 

"Thanks to my new portable dungeon, there's no way you all can escape!!! Now your friends are stuck in a time warp forever, no one can rescue you!!!" Silence. 

"There has to be a way out!" reasoned Keisha. "He must want to put us in that machine, too, but he can't today!" 

"If my guess is correct," Roberta analyzed the situation, "the energy source of the warp must be an energon crystal. It must be the only thing that can power the warp. I could tell by the blue light that emitted from the machine." 

"And?" asked Carrie. "What's energon got to do with all this?" 

"Energon crystals need a full day to recharge once used, and if I'm not mistaken, there's only few of it left in Videoland. That means that Mother Brain has to save all the resources that she has in order to get the machine to work." 

"Then we have one day to get out and rescue them, before the machine can get us, too!" announced Sandra. "You all with me?" 

"YES!!!" The cry could be heard from all over the room. 

"All right!" shouted Armina. "Let's get moving!!!" 

"Look at them!" cooed Mother Brain, watching the people try to get out of the dungeon. "Those poor souls!!" 

"Hey, Wily, got the destination for our captives?" asked Angela. 

"Yes," answered the doctor. "They're headed for 1989, where they will be unable to anything, while we take over Videoland!" 

"Excellent!" the brain smiled. "Let's get moving!" 

Wily turned on the switch, and screams could be heard from the Centre, both from the warp and from the box-like dungeon. "You know," he said to the women, "once the warp is activated, and we have sent them back in time, the time part will open and it is only after 24 hours that they will be stuck in the fabrics of time itself. That is, if someone doesn't tamper with the machine, or sends them back here." 

"They better not!!" Angela shot at him. "You don't want to taste my students fighting skills, do you?" 

He shuddered. "No, thanks." 

A few hours later, inside the box... 

"I found it!!" shouted Carrie. "I found the exit!! It was right on top of us all along!!" 

"That's great!" huffed Alex. "We can stop pushing now! That glass is like solid steel here!" 

"All right, everyone, get ready to morph!" Keisha commanded. "We'll need all the power we can get to get out of here!" 

"COMMANDO ELITE!!!" shouted the seven, right arms raised in the air. Keisha, Armina, Armand, Alex, Carrie, Roberta and Sandra all transformed into the winged heroes, and with Greg's help, flew up to the ceiling and pushed, with their weapons. Then a blast came and they were free. 

"What the!?!?" cried the scientist as people flew out carrying others and getting bigger. 

"I thought you had them under control, Doctor!!" shouted the Brain. "Now we'll have to speed everything up!!" 

"But the machine..." he protested. "It won't work properly!!" 

"I don't care!!! I want those nitwits out of my brains!!! DO IT NOW!!!" 

Wily turned the machine to warp speed, and it still held the six N veterans. Suddenly, a blue light enveloped the entire room. 

"What the--" cried Armina. Then, "Somebody do something!" 

"Wily!!" shouted Greg, "you did this!!" 

"But I --" he started, but the scientist could not finish, since the light came and in a flash, took everyone with it, and disappeared. 

To be continued in Part 2 of "TIME WARPED!" 


	7. Time Warped! Part 2

Time Warped! Part 2 Time Warped: Part 2, by Mark Moore 

The Megaland Convention Center   
Saturday, September 9, 1989, 7:55 PM 

"Where in the hell are we?" Greg asked. 

"Actually, I think we're still in Videoland." Armina said. 

Suddenly, the door of the time machine was destroyed, courtesy of Mega Man and his blaster. All of the N Team veterans ran out. 

"Damn! Those N Twirps are loose!" Mother Brain yelled. She converted into her three-wheeler mode. "Angela! Wily! Hop on!" 

The two scientists eagerly obliged. 

"Roll for it!" Angela yelled. 

Mother Brain sped towards a warp and entered it. The warp closed. 

"Damn, she got away." Alex said. 

"Where are we, Lana?" Carrie asked. 

Lana wasn't paying attention to them. She was looking around the Megaland Convention Center. Something felt wrong. She couldn't tell what. Something. That's all her mind was able to come up with. 

A hand touched her right shoulder. "Lana?" 

Lana was pulled from her thoughts, startled, and turned around to face Carrie. 

"Don't do that!" Lana yelled. "You scared the shit out of me!" 

"Sorry!" Carrie said. "Are you all right?" 

"You look spaced out." Luke said. "You been smokin' a doobie?" 

Lana looked at all of them. "Something's wrong." 

"What?" Sandra asked. 

Lana shook her head. "I don't know." 

"Hey, you know what?" Roberta asked. "I feel it, too." 

Sandra looked around. "The place looks different! It's not decorated for the party!" 

"We've traveled through time!" Greg said. 

"I knew it!" Simon claimed. 

"How much time do you think has passedicus?" Kid Icarus asked. 

"Mega Man, check your sensors." Lana said. 

"Let's see how far in the future we are." Armina said. 

"Or the past." Carrie added. 

Lana shuddered. "Let's hope not." 

"According to my mega sensors, the current date is..." Mega Man paused, then looked up at the Queen. "September 9,...1989." 

Lana gasped. "September 9, 1989 - the day Kevin arrived in Videoland!" 

"And Mother Brain's here." Sandra pointed out. 

Lana's face grew pale. "Oh, shit." 

On a hillside in Megaland... 

"As far as I can tell, we were all accidentally sent back to the day that Captain N was brought to Videoland." Dr. Wily explained. 

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!" Mother Brain said with a smile. 

"How do we get back?" Angela asked. 

"Who cares about getting back?" Mother Brain asked. 

"You intend to _stay_ here - in 1989?" Angela asked. 

"Of course! In this point in time, I have a perfect opportunity to conquer Videoland! And I know just how to start!" Mother Brain cackled laughter. 

Back at the Convention Center... 

"I guess we should go back to the Palace." Greg said. 

"No!" Lana shot. 

"Why not?" Alex asked. 

"We have to stop Mother Brain before she reaches the Palace of Power." Lana said. 

"All right, let's go." Armina said. 

Lana shook her head. "No. The energon crystals that powered the time warp were destroyed. We have to find some more." 

"Where?" Roberta asked. "There's only a few left in Videoland." 

"Now there is, but nine years ago there were a lot! I mean _now_ there are only a few - I mean nine years from now - " Lana dismissed it with a wave of her right hand. "Aw, screw it. We'll split into groups. The new kids will go look for the energon crystals. I and the rest of the veteran N Team members will go to Sun World and stop Mother Brain." 

"Okay." Sandra agreed. 

"Just remember that raw energon crystal, not transformed into energon cubes, is highly unstable." Lana warned. 

They all nodded and split up. 

In the Palace of Power... 

"This can't be happening to me!" Kevin said to himself. 

Irate, Kid Icarus flew over to Kevin and grabbed him by the collar. "Sure is, Kevinicus! It's happening to _all_ of us!" He released Kevin. 

"If _you_ cannot help us," Lana told him with growing despair, "Mother Brain will conquer _all_ of Videoland, and our freedom will be lost forever." 

"Hey! You've got the wrong guy." Kevin informed them coldly. "I'm going home." He turned to the warp and motioned for Duke to follow. "Come on, Duke." The warp disappeared just before he got to the wall, so he walked right smack into the wall and then fell on his back. "Ugh!" 

"Oh!" Lana gasped. 

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Simon laughed. He put his hand on Lana's back gently. "There, there, don't worry, Princess. _I'll_ save Videoland." He smiled sweetly at her, but this did little to console her. 

Lana closed her eyes and began to cry. She turned Simon away and ran to a lift platform. It lifted her to the floor where her room was. 

"Your Cuteness, wait!" He ran off to catch up with her. 

Kid Icarus and Mega Man turned to Kevin, angry at him. 

"You were her only hope, but you let her down!" Kid Icarus snapped. He flew away. 

"You get a _low_ score for _this_ game!" Mega Man snapped. He left and caught up with his friend, Kid Icarus. 

On the road to the Palace... 

"A-hee!" Mother Brain said. "It won't be long until history is changed, and I begin to conquer Videoland!" 

Angela repeated this phrase silently in her head. Something disturbed her. 

Elsewhere on the road... 

"Lana!" Armina yelled. 

The new kids ran up to the veterans. 

"We've got the energon!" Carrie said in excitement. 

"And in _cubes,_ too." Lana said in wonder. "How'd you manage _that?"_

"We got them from Hot Rod and Ultra Magnus. They had some to spare." Greg informed the Queen. 

Lana was confused. "Who?" 

On the sinister asteroid known as Metroid... 

The group stopped near the tower. 

"Mega Man, give me a hand." Kevin instructed. "That looks like an opening." 

He put one foot into Mega Man's hands, and Mega Man propelled him upwards at a very high speed. As he soared through the air, Kevin screamed. He fell through the roof of the tower, and he landed on and squashed Lana's guard into video dust. 

"Princess!" 

Lana turned towards him and smiled in delight. She ran to him, and they embraced each other. 

"I thought you didn't want to have anything to _do_ with Videoland." she said. 

"I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously before." he replied. "I couldn't believe that this was _real."_

She shook her head as they released each other. "Oh, it is _I_ who should apologize to _you."_

Mega Man, Kid Icarus, and Duke broke into the room. 

"Don't worry about it, Princess." Kevin said. 

Suddenly, the door the group had used shut tight! Lana gasped. 

"Huh?!" Kevin yelled in surprise, looking at the door. 

Mega Man struggled to open it again, but to no avail. He shrugged. "We're locked in." 

Then, the hologram of the ugliest being in Videoland appeared to them. "So, _this_ is what the Ultimate Warp Zone has sent to defeat me, huh?" she asked, addressing Captain N. 

He was instantly angry with her for all that she had put Lana and Videoland through. 

"We'll see _just_ how good you are when you try to survive...the corridors of Metroid! Eee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee!" 

Unfortunately, Kevin, Lana, and Duke were all perfectly positioned on the trap door! It opened and dumped the three into the center of Metroid. 

Back on the road to the Palace... 

"I don't get it, Lana." Greg said. "Why don't we just go to the Palace and warn your past selves about Mother Brain?" 

Lana shook her head. "We _can't!"_

"Why the fuck not?!" Sandra yelled. "Um,...Your Majesty?" she quickly added. 

Lana stopped, as did everyone else. 

The Queen looked at them all. "Let me ask you all something. What will happen if Mother Brain kills our past selves?" 

"You'll be erased from existence." Armina replied, as if it was obvious. 

"You've been watching too much Back To The Future." Luke said. 

"What's at stake is more than meets the eye." Lana said. "We won't get 'erased from existence', as you say. History will be altered, and we will have been dead for the past nine years." 

"And?" Roberta asked. 

"And...we'll still be on Earth." Sandra realized. 

"Oh, well, no harm to us." Luke said. 

"You're not seeing it!" Lana said. "Take this one step further. If we've been dead for the past nine years, would Mother Brain have invited us to the party in 1998?" 

Armina shook her head. "No." 

"Would she have tried to send us back in time?" Lana continued. 

Keisha shook her head. "No." 

"And would Mother Brain have ended up back in 1989?" Lana asked. 

Armand shook his head. "No." 

"So, if Mother Brain never went back in time, how can she alter history?" Lana asked. 

"So,...everything goes back to the way it was." Carrie said. "Mother Brain's attempt to fuck with history is futile." 

"If everything goes back to the way it was, then Mother Brain _does_ go back in time!" Lana yelled. 

"Oh, man, I got a headache." Luke said. 

"It's a time paradox!" Lana said. She faced Greg. "Now, Greg! _Now,_ do you see what will happen?!" 

Greg shook his head. "Not really." 

"Imagine the universe - past, present, and future - being destroyed!" Lana yelled. 

The others grew pale. 

Back on Metroid... 

"Oh, brother." Mother Brain said, dismayed at her idiots' utter lack of intelligence. She turned to the team and grinned wickedly. "I'll deal with _you_ myself!" 

Kid Icarus flew up to her and fired an arrow at a lever, causing her to spin around uncontrollably! 

"Oh, no!" Her jar was now a blur, and electricity fired everywhere. 

"Quick! Into the warp zone!" Kevin said, noticing a warp out of Metroid. "It's too dangerous to finish her off!" 

"You may have stopped me _this_ time, Princess, but _next_ time, I'll be stronger than _ever!"_ Mother Brain vowed. Her voice was now high, squeaky, and twice as fast, due to the spinning. 

"So will _we,_ Mother Brain." Lana vowed. "So will _we."_

Outside the Palace... 

"Here we are!" Mother Brain said. She converted into her tank mode. 

"Mother Brain, stop!" Lana shouted. 

Mother Brain looked at her. "You're too late, Queen Lowlife!" She aimed her guns at the Palace. "I'm going to destroy the Palace, the N Team,...and Captain N!" 

"You're mad!" Lana yelled. 

"Actually, I couldn't be happier!" Mother Brain said. "I and my instruments of destruction will finish you off for good!" She prepared to fire. 

Suddenly, Angela realized what was going on. "Mother Brain, don't! You'll destroy everything!" 

"What?!" Mother Brain yelled in surprise. 

"History has to unfold the way we originally experienced it!" Lana shook her head. "Everything that is, the existence of the entire universe, depends on it!" 

Mother Brain realized what the Queen meant. "Aw, shit." 

The Megaland Convention Center   
Saturday, December 6, 1998, 10:25 PM 

"I hope you've learned your lesson, Mother Brain." Lana said. 

"And that is?" Mother Brain asked. 

Lana grinned. "Don't screw with history. You'll end up fucking us all." 

Luke threw his head back and laughed. 

The Palace of Power... 

Everybody was seated in the living room, in casual clothes, relaxing after their mission. 

"Man, what a tiring day that was." Greg said. "I'm exhausted!" 

Lana sighed. "Me, too." 

"I wish I could've met Kevin." Keisha said. "Maybe he could've given me some pointers." 

Lana smiled. "I can tell you what happened." 

The Palace of Power   
Saturday, September 9, 1989, 10:30 PM 

Simon was eager to be rid of Kevin. "Yes. Well, it was _very_ nice of you to drop by." he said. He waved good-bye. "Do come back and visit us soon in, say, twenty years?" 

Kevin turned back for one final look at the group and turned to the warp. He was about to pass through when... 

"Kevin?" his mother called scoldingly. "You'd better not be playing that foolish game! You have homework to do. And don't forget to take out the trash!" 

"On second thought," he said, "I guess I could stay just a _little_ while longer." 

Lana came up to him. He looked back to her over his left shoulder, and she kissed him on his left cheek. Simon gasped, horrified. 

"Let's face it. I'm hooked!" Kevin twirled his Zapper and fired it off towards an unimportant part of the ceiling. 

GAME OVER   
  



	8. Broken Heart

Broken Heart On a distant Saturday evening, you could hear cries from the Queen's bedroom. For a few moments, only a dog's whining accompanied the cries. We go, however, to the room across the hall in the Palace, where a vampire hunter and his two roomates are trying to get some rest. 

"I wish she could just keep it down!" screamed Alex, the tall, broad-shouldered young man with long dark hair, wearing nothing but a pair of blue jeans at the moment. 

"You shut up!" chided Armand, the equally tall and broad-shouldered man with long blond hair, wearing white pajamas. 

"My hair!! Now look what you two have done to it!!" complained Simon, the blond-haired man wearing bunny-print pajamas with matching bunny slippers. "Now I'll never get any sleep!!" 

"If it's so important," Armand announced, "we should pay a visit to the Queen's bedroom and see what's bothering Her Majesty." 

"All right, then," both men answered him, and the trio marched across the hall, only to be greeted by Armina, Sandra, Keisha, Mega Man, Kid Icarus and Gameboy. 

"Can't sleep?" asked the boys. 

"We were going to," answered Keisha, "but the Queen locked me and Armina out of the room." 

"We heard crying, so we came to see what's up," Sandra told them. "I'm still waiting for my roommates to come back from their evening patrol." 

"Roberta and Carrie?" someone asked her. 

"Who else?" Sandra rolled her eyes, "They're supposed to come back from patrolling Shadaloo. I don't know what's keeping them." 

Then the door opened, and the Queen was standing there, wearing her golden crown and a pink nightgown. "I suppose you're all wondering why I was crying. I heard everyone talking in front of my door." 

"So, what's the story?" asked Alex. This time, no one shut him up, since they were all just as curious as he was. "Someone die? You thinking about your ex-boyfriend Ken? Is there someone else in your life?" 

"Yes, someone did die, and yes, I was thinking about Ken and yes, there is someone in my life. It's the third question that I want you all to know, and that's the one that leads to the first and second questions." She let them inside the room, and took out a picture from her drawer. It showed a young boy with short hair, a red-and-white jacket with the black letter N on the left side, a yellow T-shirt worn over his blue jeans, a pair of black-and-white sneakers, and the Queen's Power Pad and Zapper on his belt. He was accompanied by Duke in the picture. "This is Kevin Keene," Lana announced, "the original Captain N. This picture was taken eight years ago while we were picnicking in Shadaloo with Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li, and discussing attacks on Bison's palace. I had another picture of the five of us togehter, but I was thinking about Ken and all the things he had done to me, and so, I tore that one to shreds after breaking the glass." 

"That would explain the mess we saw when we got here," commented Armand. "What was your relationship with this Kevin like?" 

"Well, we almost got off on a rocky start. The Palace of Power was under assault, and I was at my wits end. I summoned guards, called for heroes, formed the N Team, but nothing seemed to work against Mother Brain. On top of that was the disappearance of my father, King Charles. I was just about to give up when the Ancient Prophecy brought Kevin and Duke to Videoland." She sighed. "At first, I was skeptical about him, and he upset me even more by wanting to go home then. Then I was kidnapped, and he led the N Team to save me. He then decided to stay, and stay he did, for three years. Then came a crucial moment in his life, his dying mother. I had no choice but to send him home. But since the Ultimate Warp Zone was stable enough only for one living being, and since Duke ran to my side, he had to go back alone. That was the last I saw of him." 

"Okay, you've told us the general stuff, let's get on with the juicy details, if you may, that is," suggested Sandra. 

"Huh?" asked Alex. "I thought you loved adventure, not romance." 

"So I'm a sucker for romance. You all know my obsession for old _Swept Away_ books!" 

"Well, if you insist," answered Lana, "But I think it's time for Roberta and Carrie to come back. Why don't we wait until then?" 

"All right, you're the boss." 

In India of Shadaloo... 

"I think it's time we headed home, what about you, Carrie?" asked Roberta, flying in her butterfly armor. 

"Just one more round, Roberta, then we'll go," answered Carrie, surfing the air on her surfboard. 

"All right, then. You cover the left side of that area, I'll cover the right." 

"Sure!" They went their separate ways. A few minutes later, Carrie noticed something like a shooting star. "Looks like it's wish time," she muttered. "I wish I had a boyfriend." She giggled. Then, "Wait a minute! I have Rick, don't I? Oh yeah, I dumped him the moment I saw Eddie Vedder strut on the stage two years ago." She paused. That was when she heard screams. "That's no shooting star!!" she cried and hurtled herself towards the source of the screams. As she got closer, she could not believe what she saw. 

"It's a boy!! And he needs help!!" she cried. She flew right next to him and positioned her arms as if to catch a baby. She then flew under the boy, grabbed him, and flew down to a nearby village. 

As soon as Carrie laid the boy down on her board, he awoke. She examined him. He was a tall one, for sure, with short brown hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a yellow T-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a red school jacket. Carrie knew that jacket. "Northridge High School, I'll bet. But what is he doing here?" she whispered. 

"I don't know about that, either," answered the boy, who gave her a shock. "I was going to ask you." 

"Who are you?" 

"First tell me where I am, and why I've changed?" 

"You're in the Shadaloo world. The country here is India, home of the great priest Dhalsim. How would you know if you've changed or not?" 

"Sorry, I don't remember anything, not even who I am. How I've changed, well, I just have this feeling that I did." 

"You don't even remember your name?" she asked incredulously. 

"I don't even have a clue to it!" he yelled, already frustrated. 

Carrie looked around and spotted the village. She said to him, "I'm going to take you to a safe place. Maybe Dhalsim will be there, and he'll help you with your memory." 

"Thank you," he answered, and the two hopped on her board to the village. 

"I can't wait anymore!" shrieked Sandra in the Queen's room. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but your silence is too much for me to bear! I yearn for romance!" 

"We must wait -- " In came Roberta. "Roberta, where is Carrie?" she asked. 

"She's still doing her rounds, as far as I know. She told me that she will be back in an hour." 

"I can't wait that long for her to come back." Lana paused, "Okay, Sandra, I'll tell you all the things Kevin and I did together, and alone." Everyone gathered to hear her story. "There was one time when I made a fool of myself in front of Zelda and Link in Hyrule by starting a food fight with the locals..."   
  


October 16, 1998... 

"That's it!" cried some big, burly guy after Lana spilled some stew on his new robe. She had stained his clothing for the fifth and last time at a dinner that Zelda hosted in North Castle. "FOOD FIGHT!!!" 

Everyone hauled food at each other. Kevin pulled Lana under a table to avoid getting hit. Link participated for the fun of it, throwing food at everyone that he saw. Someone threw lettuce at him, and he tossed Hyrulian salad dressing back at him. A woman lassoed her husband with spaghetti rope and doused him in spaghetti sauce. The guy that Lana stained fetched the princess and dunked her face in cream pie. Kevin got angry and stodd up from his table. He tossed the still hot, sticky taffy at the guy. He fired some meatballs at the Game Master. Meanwhile, Lana took advantage of the shift in attention, and proceeded to attack the attacker with a huge cake. She knew she had to work on her aim, because she threw the cake, and it landed -- right in Zelda's face as she stepped in to see what was going on. 

"Lana!!" cried her best friend in horror. "Who started this?" 

All hands pointed to Lana, except Kevin, who was still brushing off meatballs. 

"Lana, why would you want to do this?" Zelda angrily asked. "I come here to slice the cake and now it's all over me!" 

"I'm sorry, Zelda!" Lana apologized. "I accidentally spilled some stuff on that guy, and he called a food fight!" 

Zelda was livid. She walked away, leaving an apologetic Lana to face the ground and run out of the castle. Kevin followed. 

"Lana, are you all right?" he asked, holding her. "It's not your fault that he started it." 

"Yes it is!!!" she screamed, sitting on the soft grass. "It is!! I made a fool of myself in front of all of Hyrule!" 

Kevin put his arm around her waist. "No, it's his fault for being a jerk. He was rude, inconsiderate to the Princess of Videoland, and he was downright gross to begin with. This was the guy that belched right in front of you at the start of the dinner!" 

"And you held my nose, so that I wouldn't smell his burps, or the vomit that he lurched up when he tasted Zelda's wine," Lana whispered. "You even stood up for me by throwing that taffy in his face!" She laughed. 

"That guy should have seen his own face!" He also laughed. "All covered in taffy!" He took his finger, and wiped some pie off Lana's face. He licked his finger, and saddened. "That man made a total waste of this pie!" 

"You don't have to be sad, Kevin!" Lana happily reassured him. "It was, after all, his own pie! He baked it himself!" 

"The guy bakes a pie and he smashes your face into it!" Then, "Imagine the pain he's gonna have when he finds out he wasted his own pie!" 

Both of them laughed. "Let's clean up, then get back to the castle," Lana suggested. "We have some explaining to do for Zelda, and we gotta clean her up too!" 

"We had a laugh, we were a riot!" Lana laughed. The others smiled, and Keisha went to her bed and grabbed a teddy bear. She brought him back to the circle. Simon produced his teddy bear from behind. Both were brown with black beady eyes and a big red bow tied around the neck. 

"Twins!" Sandra laughed, and Simon joined in. 

"Yeah, Teddy's got a twin!" Simon laughed. 

"He must be too tired to defend his ego," Alex whispered to Armand. Armand nodded. 

"Would you like to hear more?" Lana asked them. 

"Sure," Armina nodded. 

"All the adventures that the N Team had, you probably read in the Videoland Archives. There was one, however, that was too exciting and disturbing to be written into them. The time Kevin stopped me and my high school's bully from starting an intergalactic war between our home worlds." 

"How about I call you Draven?" she asked the boy. 

"Sure", he answered. Then they saw Dhalsim. 

"Please take care of him," Carrie pleaded. 

"I know who he is," he replied, "but such knowledge must not yet be revealed. I will train him in all I know." 

"Thank you. Draven will be in good hands." 

"Draven?" 

"Go on," prodded Armina, "Tell us who the bully was." 

"She was a supermodel schoolgirl. She was so paper-thin, I swear, she could slip under any door in the school. That's why my doors are rubberized and sticky on the sides. On many occasions, Zelda and Kevin would have to protect me in the school halls, side-by-side, from her and her nasty friends. I think the main reason she picked on everybody in school was that some punks made fun of her fat older sister, who is now in the University of Megaland, studying robots and artificial intelligence. She picked on me, especially, because I was the Ruler of Videoland, and I couldn't do a thing to help her sister avoid the punks. She thought I was one of them, so she started beating me up. The one serious confrontation occurred when I decided to stand up to her..." 

King Charles Public High School, Cafeteria 

Wednesday, May 16, 1990, 12:00pm. 

Princess Lana was halfway through her lunch, consisting of noodles and meatballs with milk, when she started to talk to Kevin, sitting across the table, eating a chicken and meatloaf salad. Lana had on her royal clothes that day, and Kevin had his trademark clothes, minus the jacket that he stored in his locker. 

"I hate algebra," he complained. "The teacher's boring, and doing the homework's a total struggle!" 

"Look on the bright side, Kevin," she answered. "At least you're not fighting Mother Brain!" 

"This is worse than Mother Brain!" he countered. "Who knew she could only attack on Saturdays?" 

"Yeah, I had no idea she had to go to work! In an office!" Lana laughed. 

"Right next to all those human co-workers! No wonder she wants to rule Videoland!" 

"Hey, shortie!" yelled a blond, paper-thin girl, approaching the Princess. "Your boyfriend's cute. Can I borrow him?" Lana growled. 

"Lily, this is none of your business!" she shouted at her. Kevin ignored Lily. 

"Hey, you still up for that fight after school? You better be, 'cause I'm gonna knock you into next week!" she slammed her right fist in her left palm. "Just like that!" She was addressing Lana. 

"This is not necessary!" yelled Kevin. 

"You stay out of this!" yelled both girls. Then Lana said, "Yeah, I'm still up for it!" 

"I was a mess then," she explained, "but I showed her then! She's still serving time for bullying the Queen!" She laughed. 

Lana would tell more stories until the sun was up. She told them the one of Kevin and her going on a picnic in the wrong place at the wrong time, and many more tales. As soon as they finished, Carrie came in. 

"You're late. You missed storytime." Lana smiled. 

"Sorry. I had to help a boy." 

"I was telling everyone all about my boyfriend, Kevin." 

"Can you show me a picture?" she asked. Lana obliged and gave her the very first picture of him. Carrie gasped. 

"He looks exactly like the boy I helped!" 

Lana was surprised. "He does?" 

"Yeah, exactly alike." Carrie then retired to bed. 

_So maybe Kevin's still out here,_ she thought, _I wonder what he's doing here?_ The thought would stay with her for a long time. 

GAME OVER 

  
  
  
  



	9. War on the Home Front

War on the Home Front One Saturday morning,... 

"We're under attack!!" yelled Armand one day after a rocket blast interrupted a very challenging chess game against Greg. 

"Tell me about it!" replied the blond-haired robot who was formerly Cut Man. He looked around. The rocket landed about five metres from the totally blasted north wall of their makeshift gym on the outskirts of the Palace. Armand and Greg's clothes were now tattered and torn. 

"What a way to ruin a great chess game!" Armand complained. "And just when I was about to beat you!" 

"Me? Hah! I had you cornered there!" Greg pointed to him. 

Suddenly, a sharp whistle blast rang in the air. The two boys ran out to investigate. They heard a man shouting orders, and hurried footsteps that seemed to be heading towards the front of the Palace. 

"Uh-oh,..." muttered Greg. 

"Yeah, I know the feeling," answered Armand. 

"Rebels." 

"You got it." 

"I hate rebels. Especially when they're attacking us!" 

"We better warn the Queen!" With that note, Armand suddenly heard explosions. They came from the ground. And they seemed to be approaching them. 

"LAND MINES! OH, SHIT! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!!" Armand cried out. Then, he told Greg: "Can you hang on to my back? I'm gonna see if this flying stuff works!" 

"That'll be great, considering the fact that I can't fly myself!" 

Greg hung on to Armand's back, and Armand closed his eyes and muttered the same words that Zelda chanted the first time he got here. A few minutes passed. Then: "Oh, my lord, Armand, you did it!!! WE'RE FLYING!!! _WE'RE OFF THE GROUND!!!!! WE'RE REALLY FLYING!!!!!!!"_

Armand opened his eyes. Sure enough, they were ten feet off the ground. He yelled and shouted: "YES!!! IT WORKED!!!! IT REALLY WORKED!!!", and proceeded to fly in circles. 

"I think I'm going to be sick!" cried Greg after all that flying. Then he yelled "Look out!" as a rocket neared them. 

Armand looked out. He swerved just in the nick of time, and flew even higher. "Now what?" he asked his robot friend. 

"Now's the time we get inside and warn the others!" 

"I couldn't agree with you more!" He swooped down to pick up a rock and then flew as fast as he could to the window in the new Communications Room. As he readied the rock he said to Greg: "You know, I almost never do stuff like this. This is an emergency, though." He threw the rock and broke the glass. Then he and Greg flew right in. 

In the Communications Room, Armina and Lana were surveying maintenance being done to the Palace's security system. Everything seemed to be in check. Dexter walked in. 

"I checked the security cameras on the left wing of the Palace, and they work just fine," he told the women. "So do the ones in the front yard. So I just don't know how they could just freak out at this time. Maybe just a glitch in the software." 

"Let's hope so," said Queen Lana. "I hate to think of what could be worse." She was wearing her black leather bodysuit with the Zapper and Power Pad. She wore her shoulder-length hair down. 

"Looks OK," said Armina, "Nothing here has been touched, so the Palace should at least look fine to me." 

A rock came through the window, shattering the glass of the large window. A voice shouted, "Looks can be deceiving, sis. Remember what you taught me?" Armina could not believe what she saw next. 

In flew her brother, Armand, and Greg was hanging on to his back. As the two approached a wall, Armand suddenly jerked to a standing position, and gracefully landed on the floor, letting Greg off to run to Dexter, yelling, "This guy's a freaking maniac!!" 

"Armand, what do you mean by that?" asked his sister, incredulously. 

"We're under attack." he replied, matter-of-factly. "Rebels again. And this time, they've got rockets." 

"Yeah," agreed Greg. "Chess-game-hating rockets. One of them totally tore off one of our gym walls!" 

"And land mines everywhere!" 

Armina ran to the broken window and looked down. The ground was ruined by explosions, and sure enough, it was riddled with land mines. She confirmed her brother's accounts when she saw only three walls on the wooden gym, and a hole where the rocket landed. Lana came to her and saw everything, too. She yelled, "Why can't I have a normal kingdom and be a normal Queen in a normal outfit, and only have to worry about normal wars and be attacked by normal enemies who just happen to not know ME personally!?!?!?!?!" 

"Because somebody already does, Lana!" smirked some guy on the viewscreen. Lana turned to face him. She gasped. 

"Ken! Not you again!" she cried. 

"Ken Masters? So everyone was right about you!" scowled Armina. "You dirty son-of-a-" 

"Now, now, now, young lady, watch your tongue," scolded Ken as though he were her father. "We've got children here. Right behind you." He pointed behind Armina, and she turned to see. 

"Hi, Armina," said Keisha in a yellow dress and matching sandals. She was accompanied by Prince Luke of Videoland, Princess Mary Harkinian of Hyrule, and Lonnie Right. "We just came back from playing at Mary's house, when we saw the rockets flying! What's going on?" 

"It's Ken," answered Lana, and the kids understood. 

"That's right, kiddies, it's me!" announced Ken. "And if you don't surrender your throne to us, we'll take it by force! Oh yeah, I forgot! We're already doing it!" 

"You're wasting your ammo, mister!" shouted the new Captain N. "You can take us down all you like, but you'll never take over Videoland!" 

"That's what YOU think!" he smiled. "My forces have come up with a new substance that can burn your Palace walls to ashes! It's in our guns and rockets, if you wanna know so much. Well, I gotta head back to the front lines now. See you later ... or not!" The image disappeared from the screen. 

Keisha turned to face the crowd. "Mary, I want you to go home and tell your parents about this attack. We need them here now!" 

"Got it!" said Mary. 

"Dexter and Mega Man, you two are to accompany Mary back to Hyrule. Come back with Link and Zelda ASAP!" 

"Sure thing, Captain N!" said Dexter as he, Mega Man, and Mary exited through a warp. 

"Lonnie, you go back to the lab with Greg. It's safer there for both of you, and Dr. Right may need your help!" 

"OK, just wish I had the fun of beating rebels!" she complained. 

"There will be plenty of time for that when you get there. Now go!" 

Lonnie and Greg headed back to the lab. Keisha looked at the remaining people. "Lana, please find Roberta, Alex, Sandra and Carrie, and tell them to meet us near the front lines. We can't fight without them here!" 

"OK," Lana took off. Keisha turned to Luke, Armina and Armand. 

"Let's get Luke an arsenal of weapons and armor," she commanded them. "Come on, Luke! You're now one of us!" Luke followed her and the Lafleur twins to the Weaponry Room. 

"Whoa, when Keisha says 'let's go', she really means it!" sighed Alex, running towards the Palace, trying to catch up with long-legged Roberta, who was already way ahead of him. 

"I cannot believe it, Mr. Grande. We have only run two miles, and you are already whining!" She ran faster. 

"I just wish I had my car, that's all. There's not a warp in sight!" 

"It was your stupid idea for us to run all the way down to Honest Ted's to meet the airhead blonde in a bathing suit you saw in one of their commercials!" 

"Yeah, she was dreamy," His eyes wandered off, as he pictured the girl now, long blond hair, barefoot in a bright red one-piece suit, sitting next to him as they drove off in his car heading for the beach. Roberta stopped long enough for him to catch up. Then she smacked him on the face. 

"You always go for the airheads, don't you?" she yelled. "I could have stayed home and read Shakespeare!! At least HE'S got some class!!" 

"All right! I'll shut up now!" The two resumed running. Roberta ran faster than ever. "Wait up!" Alex yelled, but to no avail. She ignored him and kept on running. 

"Wowie, time sure flies when you two are having fun!" Sandra whistled. She was a witness to yet another game in Football World. Carrie played fullback, Rick Walker, quarterback, and their team was beating the hell out of the rivals. Sandra sat on the bench with some other players. She was wearing blue jeans and a pink sweater, with white sneakers and socks. Everyone else was in football uniform, pants, helmet, cleats and all. 

"And another touchdown! The N-Team wins!!" shouted the announcer. 

"YEAAAH!!!!!! ALL RIGHT!!!!" cried Rick, who scored the winning touchdown. He was joined by Carrie and other players who hoisted him high in the sky. He jumped off as soon as he saw Sandra and he ran to her. "WE WON!!!!" he yelled. 

"Yeah, that's great! Good job! Now, how about we all get some food? Watching you people play made me hungry!" Sandra suggested. The others agreed, saying that they were starving. 

Suddenly, a hologram appeared. It was Queen Lana: 

"Attention Alex Grande, Roberta Dimanno, Sandra Tolera and Carrie Wong. The rebels are attacking the Palace, this time with rockets. We need you all at the front yard now. If you can find a warp out from where you are, go find it. If not, you will have to arrange for another method of transportation. The com links are down, because of the rebels, otherwise I could have reached you two hours earlier. Please come quickly, this is an emergency. Thank you. Lana out." The hologram disappered. 

"We better run now!" yelled Carrie, getting panicky. 

"There's no way of telling what could happen!" answerd Sandra. 

"You know, ever since I started playing here," said Rick, "I've been getting to know this place inside out. I can find you a warp out." 

"Great. To the Palace, please. And I'd like for you to come, Rick. No way are you gonna miss out on all the fun!" Carrie invited him. 

He kissed her hand. "For you, princess, anything." They and the other players of Football World quickly filed out of the stadium, still in uniform. 

"Let me see...," mumbled Armina, as she fumbled through all the weapons in the Weaponry Room. "We've got magic swords!" 

"Nah, not my type," said Luke, looking at her and her brother tear apart a whole shelf full of weapons. Keisha, having already done her share, sat on a marble table. Luke was heavily armored with armor. 

"Laser cannons?" asked Armand. 

"Nope. Too big." 

"Golden fire slingshot?" asked Armina. 

"Too small." 

"Laser rifles?" 

"Like I'm gonna just slice and dice somebody, yeah, right!" 

"Rocket Launcher?" 

"We already have enough damage to the Palace as it is, people," said Keisha. Then she turned to Luke and said, "Well, we've looked at everything, but one. This one you'll have to like, because it's the only one in stock." She handed him a flame thrower and pumped gasoline into it. "Put it on." He did, sliding his hands through and into the fireproof gloves that were connected to the hoses coming from the backpack. Bell-shaped trombone horns protruded from the glove end of each hose. 

"Cool!" he shouted as he squeezed both triggers and burned a big hole in the wall. Luke grinned sheepishly as he turned to the angry stares of Captain N and two of her Defenders. "I guess this will come out of my allowance, won't it?" 

"You bet your butt it will!" answered Captain N. Then she said to her crew. "Let's move out! To the front yard!" 

The four of them raced through the hole to join the action already in progress at the front yard of the Palace. 

"Wow, the gang's all here!" Captain N noted the familiar faces of Lana, Simon, Mega Man, Kid Icarus, Zelda, Link, Alex, Roberta, Sandra, Carrie and Rick fighting the forces of the Resistance. Keisha ran to join the fight, Zapper in hand, telling the others, "We only morph into the Commando Elite when we need to!" Armand nodded and took out his sledgehammer and Zapper. Armina did the same with her Zapper, and Luke had on his flame thrower and a Laser Rifle, just in case. 

Rebel forces attacked with gusto. But the defence was strong, too strong for some of the rookies. Zelda, surrounded by troops, aimed her arrow upwards, yelling, "I shot an arrow in the air, and where it goes..." The arrow turned into an arrow shower. She continued, "... you ALL should care!" The shower hit the surrounding rebels by full force. Each ran as an arrow hit and knocked him or her out. Zelda smiled. "Never mess with a princess, you slimy dogs!" she gloated. 

Lana fared better. The Queen showered her attackers with a series of hadou-kens, sho-ruy-kens and tornado kicks. Many died and many more cowered away. She once axed a woman that charged toward her by a flying kick in her stomach. Then Lana, when she was surrounded again, flew up into the air and delivered a massive energy shower to the ground, killing or stunning every rebel that dared to come within 10 feet from her. 

Carrie and Rick conspired together. Carrie connected some flammable cords to some tankers on the fireproof ground. They picked up a rocket (the rebels accidentally fired a dud) and used it as a football (the dud was light enough for one person to carry it). Carrie had the rocket while Rick ran far to catch it. Dodging men and women, Carrie jumped high and threw the rocket. Rick jumped and caught it. Using a lighter to light its fuse, he aimed at one particular tanker (the master tanker) and hurled the rocket down. Just before impact, Rick jumped off the tanker and landed some 50 feet away from it, in a crouched position with his right fist in the ground. Seconds later, the tanker exploded. Fire travelled along the cords connecting the tankers, and they also caught fire and exploded. Rebels that were not lucky enough to escape themselves were either burned or saved by the N-Team veterans, who ushered them into the dungeon. 

Keisha zapped her way through ninety people (there were about 1000 rebels attacking the Palace!) towards a missile launcher. She zapped the guy that operated the machine and used her Power Pad to jump on to the seat of it. She hoped to find another missile launcher and destroy it. She found one and shot a missile toward it. Luckily the woman that was sitting there survived the explosion, yelling "My hair is on fire! My hair is on fire!" The woman ran away, all covered in soot and ashes. "I should have been a fashion model, but noooo...," muttered the woman as she stopped for breath. Then she ran at the sound of gunfire. 

"You deserve it, you rebel scum, you!" screamed Keisha from the missile launcher. She hopped off it, having had her fun, and went to join the battle. She saw a man come at Luke, who forgot how to work the flamethrower. Captain N ran furiously to stop him. 

"So, you little punk!" He picked Luke up by the head. "You think you can get away that easily? Why don't you go home to your Mommy?" 

Luke stuck his tongue out at him, as he frustratingly tried to work his weapon. 

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!!! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!!" the man screamed, as he threw the boy on to the ground and launched a rocket hurtling towards him. Lana turned around. 

"LUKE!!! NO!!!!" she cried as she heard rockets fired. 

Suddenly, there was quiet. 

"No explosion," whispered Alex. Then one stupid guy took advantage of the situation and attacked him. Alex grabbed him and kneed him in the gut. Then he uppercutted the poor guy out of the sky. 

"Huh?" someone asked as the smoke cleared. 

Luke was unharmed. Keisha had taken the force full blast. But she wasn't hurt either. She had morphed into her Commando Elite uniform, and had blocked the blast with her angel wings. 

"It's time," she commanded. 

"COMMANDO ELITE!" shouted the Defenders as they transformed into uniform. Alex extended his left hand and brought it to his heart. His car came out from the left side and arrived at his feet. 

"You wanna ride?" he asked, but by the time he did, everyone but Keisha and Luke had left. "Everyone's a critic," he muttered. "Oh, well, you two might as well hop on." Then he and the kids drove around, flaming and firing at rebels on the way. 

Among all the chaos, Ken managed to sneak away. Slipping into the shadows, he crept into the Palace with something in his hand. Since his own soldiers took out the guard robots and all other mechanical security devices, it was easy for him to slip by unnoticed by the N-Team. He appeared in the Communications Room and opened a channel. The face of a little girl with long brown hair in pigtails came on. 

"Kitty," he opened his hand and revealed some disks, "I have the data disks right here. I'm going to upload the information right now." 

"How many times do I have to tell YOU," she screamed, "_DON'T CALL ME KITTY!_ I get enough of that from Daddy. I am NOT a little girl!" 

"Sorry, Miss Katherine." He strolled over to a computer and opened a CD-ROM drive. He placed one of the disks in it and closed the drive. The computer began processing. Katherine smiled. 

"Daddy's going to be so pleased!" she said. "The disks contain all of the identities of the current defenders of all the worlds! When you're finished uploading, Daddy can use the information to control all of their minds at once!" 

"But how is your father going to do that? All he has is information." 

"With the mind sweeper, silly!" Katherine showed him a giant machine. "This baby allows Daddy to control and absorb different mind patterns at the same time! All he needs now is the information so he can identify the different mind patterns!" 

"Oh. I see," he answered. 

"And you know what happens if you fail..." 

Ken gulped. Katherine continued, "And it's gonna be worse for your wife and kid." 

He growled. "You leave them out of it, you bitch!" he shouted. 

"Just doing my job, Ken. And now, if you'll excuse me, Daddy's expecting me. Ta ta!" She disappeared. Ken kicked a computer. He opened two more drives and placed the other two disks into them. When he shut the drives, he stood back and shouted profanities. 

"So I got caught up in booze, OK? I had it all: Eliza, Mel. And then Lana had to go up there and be so beautiful. Yeah, Lana! Why'd ya have to be so beautiful?!?" he screamed. Then he caught his breath and continued. "I suppose I deserved it, though. Because of my cheating, I lost her and I almost lost Eliza, too. I was a jerk in jail. Then Bison had to free me, at the cost of my wife and son." He suddenly looked to the sky and stared, fists clenched and raised. "How many of my soldiers must I lose before my debt is repaid, Bison??? Huh? You tell me! You tell your goddamned kid, too! Why should my family suffer your torture, when I already do as you say?? Tell me!! Why???" 

He dropped his hands and hung his head. There was no more to say. Something indicated that the upload was complete. Ken opened the drives and grabbed the disks. Without warning, he threw all three through the open hole and left the way he came in. Simon caught him with his whip and Ken struggled no more. 

"Hey, something came out that hole!" Sandra, now in Commando Elite, found a disk that glided onto the Palace ground. She whipped some guys back into their truck and picked up the disk. She found two others lying alongside some dead men, and rushed into the Palace. 

Armand and Armina had a high time flying around carrying rebels in their arms and dropping them off in unusual places. Some were lucky and fell to the ground. Others literally flew by the seat of their pants and landed on rockets that were, unfortunately, headed for the undented Palace. Others found themselves next to half-naked people using the toilets in the rebels' outhouses, and yet others found themselves right on time for Lana's target practice session. The twins gave each other a high-five. 

Alex and the kids jumped out of the car to meet Roberta flying higher and higher with a rebel caught on her leg. She was trying to get him off. Well, you know what happened. Alex played the hero, flew up and chopped the guy's head off. The body lost its grip and fell, splitting in half on Keisha's blade. Roberta turned and smacked him. 

"Prithee, dear sir, I had that bastard where I liketh him! You did not have do that!" 

"Well, excuuuuse me, Shakespeare! I was trying to save your ass!" 

She harrumphed and left the scene. Keisha flew up to him. "Honestly, I don't get it. What is wrong with that woman, anyways?" 

After batting three-for-three, Carrie proceeded to fire at the incoming rebels. Keisha joined her and fired her sword at them, too. Suddenly, someone from the Palace came. It was Lonnie with a big, fancy gun. "Everyone get behind me!" she commanded, and the entire N-Team, including Luke and Duke, appeared behind her and the doctor, who had just emerged. Lonnie fired a big, blue shot at the rebels, the shot encompassing them all and Ken and disappearing. 

"Just like that..." muttered the doctor. "A big warp gun. Useful when you're outnumbered." 

"Where are they now?" asked the queen. 

"In Prisonworld. Long time since the inmates had any visitors." 

Back in the Palace... 

"Something's wrong again!" shouted Greg. 

"What is it?" asked the queen. Greg pointed to the disks that Sandra held previously. 

"These disks, I think they're information disks!" 

"Did someone try to steal information while we battled?" asked Keisha. 

"No," said Greg, a strange look on his face. 

"Then what?" 

"I think something has been uploaded into our computer." 

"A virus?" 

"I don't know. If it is a virus, it's dormant." 

"OK," said Lana. "I think this whole war thing back there was just to upload whatever info there was on the disks into our computers. I'll check it out." She left, and reappeared a few minutes later. 

"What is it?" asked everyone. 

"It's information about us. Each and every one of us." 

"We have that in our computers already!" said Armina. 

"But this is detailed information. Something that we would never put down into the systems. I think something sinister is going on." 

"Which means..." 

"Which means that this is a reminder of our struggles in Videoland," explained Keisha. "We've gotta prepare NOW. The war's just esclated today. And it's going to get worse..." 

GAME OVER 


	10. The Valley of the Dead

The Valley of the Dead One dark and creepy Friday night... 

Everyone was asleep, except for Alex Grande, Armand Lafleur and Simon Belmont. In their room, the boys were dressed, Simon in his usual vampire-hunting clothes, and Alex and Armand in sweaters, leather jackets, jeans and sneakers. Alex turned to his roomates. 

"Well, gentlemen, are we ready to rumble?" he whisphered in his best Count impression. Simon opened his mouth to scream, only to have Armand clamp his hand on his mouth. 

"Ssssh!" he said. "He's just joking! Besides, we can't let anyone know we're doing this." He leaned further and whispered, "Remember the dare? And loser has to treat the others to dinner and a movie!" 

"Yeah, we both hope it's not you, Simon Belmont," said Alex, "considering how much you spent on that expensive mousse, gel and hair spray kit!" 

"Not to mention that 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner! Talk about hair-obsessed!" 

"Yeah, he keeps this up, and he's going to develop Obsessive-Compulsive-Hair-Grooming-Disorder!" 

"Simon Belmont is not sick!" yelled Simon Belmont. "I'll have you know that I am not a chicken, either! Simon Belmont WILL go with you punks to the Valley of the Dead, make no mistake about that!" 

"I wish you HAD made a mistake about that!" quivered Simon, as the guys approached Castlevania's entrance to the Valley of the Dead. His blond hair stood on end as Alex drove the car towards the warp. 

"I wonder," asked Armand, "why couldn't we go to entrances in the other worlds? Hyrule's Underworld is pretty easy to get there, and so is the River Styx in Mount Icarus, if you know their language." 

Alex grumbled. Already nervous, he screamed: "Because, doofus, Castlevania's the most accessible, and plus, we've got someone who knows the realm inside out! Now shut up! You're scaring me!" 

"I'll shut up when pigs fly and you stop calling me a doofus, scaredy-cat!" 

"Dumbo!" 

"Chicken!" 

"Stupid!" 

"Coward!" 

"All right already, will ya quit the fightin', so w'all could git on with the dare!" shouted a red-haired female in a red shirt with blue jeans, white sneakers, black belt with gold buckle and a black leather jacket. She wore a black cowboy hat over her short hair and aimed her modern black pistol at the quarrelers. The boys looked at her. Simon took the advantage to get out of the car and run to the woman. 

"Simon Belmont's the name, and these children are Alex and Armand, two of the Defenders of the Realms," he introduced them to her. 

The woman lowered her gun and motioned the boys come out. "Ah know Alex," she said to him. "He's a good friend of mine ever since he came here to Videoland." 

"So you must be..." 

"Lorraine Thompson. These are mah friends," She pointed to some people near her. She started with a blond boy with throwing stars and a steel lasso in his hand. "The clean-shaven guy's name's Christopher. He's a softie, once ya git to know 'im. That there's Donna." Lorraine pointed to a blonde wielding chains in a red dress and high heels. "Ah mahself've got no idea what the hell's wrong with that girl. High heels ain't gonna suit me where we're goin'." 

"Whoa. That's painful feet she must have," said Alex. 

Lorraine continued to the bat-wielding black man with dreadlocks. "The sweetie-pie here's Mack Johnson, Dee Jay's brother. He come an' hang out with us now and then." She pointed out a woman with brown hair and black bodysuit. She wielded a thick, long, metal stick. "That there's Jenny. She's the strongest of us all." To demonstrate what she just said, Lorraine pointed out a rock to Jenny and she picked it up and threw it 100 kilometres south, just missing a house. Everyone else in shock, Lorraine continued to the last one, a guy in his mid-twenties with a shock of red hair and sunglasses. He carried a sword. "That's mah lover, Jack Dreyfuss. He's the sweetest thang since the whole livin' helluva war started around the eighties." 

"Well, you know me," said Alex, "and you know what we're going to do!" 

"Yeah, just can't wait for that dinner an' movie!" shouted Jack. "I wanna see 'Bayou Billy: The Movie'!" 

"Always something about my cousin, let's git on with the show!" rallied Lorraine. 

"All right, the warp should open right about ... now!" stated Alex, and the warp opened. All of them walked right in. 

The atmosphere was eerie. The night sky was filled with grey smoke and the land was full of dead trees. A river of blood coursed through the land, and some people had set up house here. Lorraine touched the blood from the river. 

"They say that the river gits its blood from vampires," she informed the crew. "The blood of the dead. Them humans who got bit by them blood-suckin' freaks? That's their blood all over the place." Simon shuddered. "Them houses over there, them mainly the ones destroyed in the land of the livin'. But some of'em got made by them dead people. Ah see they got resourceful there." She pointed to a house made of wood from a dead tree. "Let's git on there an' find summun's gonna be showin' us around!" 

"Where did you say she lives?" whispered Armand as he and the gang plodded on to that house, despite the night sky suddenly go red. 

"From the South," said Alex, spotting some people with guns trudging up ahead. They ducked when the people fired. "Texas, USA, RedNeck County, to be exact," he continued when the firing stopped. 

"RedNeck County? The world that has those two gun-toting redneck guys?" 

"Yeah, baby!" Then after shielding Lorraine from a misdirected stream of blood with a rock, he said, "we're lucky, actually. She comes from the city part of Texas." 

"That would explain her pistol and leather jacket," said Armand, dodging some fireballs. 

"Actually, the pistols she hand-carved them herself," announced Jack, leading the way when the team encountered some thorny live vines. Cutting through it all, Jack continued: "Lorraine's a blacksmith. At least, that's her day job. At night, she's something else!" 

"I don't totally understand why we have to go to this dark place, Mackie!" cried Donna, hugging Mack. "It's so scary!" 

"And she's the one with the chains," muttered Jenny. "I wonder why." 

"Hey, hey, hey!" Mack intervened. "Peace, ok?" Then to Donna, he said, "Don't worry, baby. I'm here for you. I'll be your guard, your lover, anything to make you happy." 

"Oh, thank you, Mackie!" Donna smiled. To the amazement of some, and the dismay of others, Mack swooped Donna up into his strong arms and carried her the rest of the way. Suddenly... 

"There it is!" shouted Christopher. "We're here!" 

Sure enough, that old house made of dead trees, was finally accessible. Alex rang the bell on the door as soon as everyone was on the porch. An old lady answered the door. 

"How may I help you young travellers?" she asked. 

"We're on our way to the Palace's Land of the Dead," answered Lorraine. "We're wunderin' if ya'd like to be of any service to us." 

"That depends, young miss," said the old lady, allowing them inside. "You should know very well that vampires and other monsters are forbidden there in that holy land. Mortals should also be cautious, lest the King's messengers come for them too early." 

"Who's the King?" asked Simon, fearing that he may be King Charles, Lana's father. 

"King Yama. He doesn't actually come to Videoland, but sends his messengers to round up the incoming souls. They then send them back to him, so that he could judge them." 

"And what about here? In Castlevania?" 

"It was very foolish of you to end up here, Mr. Belmont. Castlevania's land of the dead is Videoland's version of that demonic place they call Hell. Unfortunately it is also home to the souls of those good people who died there. But the good ones almost always make their way to the holy lands." 

"How?" asked Jack. Donna's feet were now on the ground. 

"By me. See that river of blood over there?" the woman pointed out a red stream near the window to her right. Some boats were floating on that stream. "I help as much as I can, with some of my friends rowing boats and all. That way leads to the purification waters, the only way out of this hell hole. But only good people can cross through them and live, since they lead to the holy lands. Bad people die again." 

"Okay, lady, you know so much, but you don't know our names yet," said Alex. "We're all mortals, I assure you. I am Alex Grande, and you know Simon Belmont. This is Armand Lafleur, Lorraine Thompson, Jack, Jenny, Mack, Donna and Christopher. Now who are you?" 

"I am Countess Lucille de Castlevania." She smiled, showing no fangs. "My daughter, Elizabeth Bartley, unfortunately, has fallen under the curse of the vampire, as did Vladmir and his son, Alucard. I died when, in rebellion against me, Elizabeth sucked my blood." She turned to the others and said: "Let us now head to the holy lands, since there are many ways into Hell and only one way out and that's through the purification waters." 

The Countess showed them to a boat floating on the river of blood. It sat twenty people, and was painted white inside. Everyone knew what the bottom must look like. Blood. Lucille then helped the three girls in, and then the boys, but when she got to Simon, he said, "After you, my sweet Countess," and helped her inside. Of course, Alex grabbed an oar and started stroking away, leaving Simon to wade in the blood before getting on. 

Pretty soon, the gang forgot about the dare and focussed on their journey. Their plan was to explore every Underworld known in Videoland, but as they soon learned ... 

"The only way to explore all the Underworlds is to first get to the Holy Land," announced Lucille. "That's the only land with warps to everywhere else." 

"Aw, crap!" muttered Alex. "I wanted so much to fight with Gannon." 

"And I wanted to meet Queen Lilah of Videoland," said Armand, "Lana's grandmother. I heard she died in Kongoland." 

"You'll get your chance when you see the Holy Lands!" snapped the Countess. "Now on to the gates!" 

"The gates? Are you sure?" asked Jack, who had stopped rowing. "Cause I thought we were going in and out of Castlevania, not to the gates." 

"Now don't YOU be a sissy, love," scolded Lorraine. "We're gonna do as the old lady says, an' we're gonna be fine. You just git back to your place and row, and everythin's gonna be okay." 

"I wish they were fine," sighed Jack as he found his seat and started rowing again. 

The blood was still, and the gates were nearby. Everyone stopped to take a breather, when Alex spotted blood-soaked people around the banks. One of them, a little girl, was wading toward them. 

"Uh, can anyone tell me who these people are?" he asked, getting scared. 

The Countess looked at them and opened her eyes wide. One of the people seemed to recognize her, and she screamed. 

"What's wrong?" asked Donna. 

"We have to keep going, NOW!" she yelled. "Those people are my enemies --- they'll want us dead! Again for me!" 

As soon as they sped on, the dead people rushed further. The Countess kept on screaming as more people approached. She screamed even more as they neared the gates. Jack sensed this coming, and suddenly, something snapped inside him. 

"I know who killed me!" he shouted. 

"Who?" asked Jenny. 

"Never mind. Let's get to the gates before she gets us all!" 

The boat beached, and everyone got on foot. Out of the blue, Alex noticed the little girl again, and ran to her. 

"Don't touch her!" cried the Countess. "She's evil, just like the rest of them!" 

"That's a new definition of evil, lady." He picked up the girl and took out a cloth to wipe off the blood. "You know, for a so-called evil one, she is cute." The girl snuggled in his chest. She appeared to be five years old. 

"You take your hands off her, or I'll bite her again!" 

"You're not biting anyone, old woman!" yelled Jack. 

"What did you say?" 

"At first I didn't know who killed me, but now I do. It was you! You killed me and them! Every single one! Even that little girl!" 

The Countess did an about face. She pulled off her human teeth to reveal fangs. "So what if I did?" she snarled. "They were useless anyway!" 

"Now I see who's the victim here. I remember everything you did to us, right to the bitter end. You were in love with Vladmir before he was a vampire. Then you turned your sights to another human and had Elizabeth. That angered Vlad, and he bit you and made you his loyal slave! Elizabeth didn't want to live with a vampire, and she was trying to find ways to cure you. But you didn't want to be cured. Instead, you wanted to control her like Vlad was doing to you. So you bit her, and me, when I was trying to protect her! You then went into town with Vlad and sucked the blood of everyone who stood in your way, even little Julia, who Alex is holding now." 

"That little brat! She was bothering me every day to come and play with her, when I had other things to tend to!" 

"Like sucking her blood? I don't think so! If it hadn't been for Trevor Belmot slaying you, the whole town would still be in the dark!" 

"Then I will have my revenge!" She lunged at Simon, but stayed away as he wielded his whip. Simon whipped this way and that, and swept the Countess off her feet. The boys rounded up the dead people and everyone began a full frontal attack on her, except Alex, who was shielding a sleeping Julia. Then the unexpected happened. 

"She's growing!" someone shouted. "Into a monster!" 

Sure enough, the Countess grew into a black, hidoeous, blood-sucking monster. She spewed fire all around them, and people huddled. Julia woke up. 

"No, it's not true, is it?" she asked Alex. 

"What's not true?" 

"The legend of the monster. If it gets to the mortal world, that means it's the end of Castlevania." 

"WHAT? End of Castlevania?" 

"It is true," she cried, and pointed to the monster that was once Countess Lucille of Castlevania. "Ruler of the Underworld. If she comes to the mortal world, everyone there will die, and the Underworld will collapse by overcrowding. People here will cease to exist, if they can't make it to the Holy Land on time." 

"Then we have to stop her now!" He set down the girl and rounded up Armand and Simon. "Any ideas?" he asked. 

Armand fired his Zapper at her, which seemed to singe her, but not much. "We shouldn't transform unless it's a real emergency. For us, that is. We can try pushing her to the gates." 

"I don't know if those are the gates, but it's worth a shot," said Simon. "Why don't we test it first? Maybe on that little girl." 

"Will you two do it, while I distract her, then? I don't want her hurt." 

"Will do." Armand and Simon grabbed the girl by her hands and the three ran to the gates. As the girl touched the light of the open gates, the monster lunged at the boys. Simon screamed, and Armand pushed him away. "Julia, go!" shouted Alex, as he flew up to the monster's face and socked her. He winced. 

"She's living lava!" he shouted. "Everyone to the gates before she gets even more pissed!" 

"What about you, dahling?" called Lorraine. 

"I'll meet you there! Don't worry about me!" he called. 

Julia passed through the gates. The other dead people were next, followed by Jack, Donna, Mack, Jenny, Lorraine and Simon. Armand was waiting at the door for Alex to come. 

"What are you doing? You're supposed to be at the other side of the gates!" He was knocked sky-high, and fell into the blood. Armand helped him out and saw the burns on his body. 

"It's time we transformed, Alex. Maybe our armor can protect us." 

"COMMANDO ELITE!" yelled the boys, as they morphed into their armor. But even the armor didn't help much. Alex pitched his axe into the monster's foot, and Armand used his wings to slam some into the face. Alex joined him in the air, and told him about his previous idea. 

"Will it work, though?" he asked. 

"Sure! She's evil, and the gates destroy evil, remember?" 

"Sure do, but how are two puny guys like us going to get a big one like her into the gates?" 

"How about THREE puny guys?" shouted a voice from the gates. 

"Simon??" both asked, and the monster turned to him. 

"Belmont!" roared the monster. "You pay NOW!!" The monster swiped at Simon, but he dodged. She tried again, stepping closer to him, and spewing fire. Simon dodged again, and entered the gates. He taunted, "You want me? You want a piece of Simon Belmont? Come get me, you big lout! She was one step away from the light. Alex and Armand flew closer behind her. 

Simon readied his whip, and others backed him. As the monster neared him, Alex and Armand both kicked the base of the monster's neck with so much force, that it brought her down. Simon called out, "Whip, extension NOW!". The whip extended to 200 feet long and he lassoed the monster tigthly with it. "All together now, pull!" he yelled to the others, now clean of their blood. 

The monster struggled as they pulled. The forcefield was good enough to let Simon's whip in, but it looked like they needed help. "We need help now! She's not budging!" someone called. Even as Alex and Armand came to their side to help, it wasn't enough. The monster began to awake. 

"Pull faster! Faster!" shouted the people. Soon enough, everyone from the Holy Land came to help, pulling as fast as they could. And then they cheered as the monster's head reached the gates, and slowly disintegrated. Without the head, the body could not function, and it exploded in a burst of light. 

How the monster died was nothing compared to how the Underworld there was transformed. No more blood rolled down the river; it was replaced with water. The bare lands were covered with green grass, and the trees sprang to life. Jack explained, "She was the only evil one left there. Now everything is purified." 

"Jack, you're not coming back?" asked Lorraine. 

"No," and he left it at that, as the group left, finding a way home now. 

Back at the Palace, the group, minus Jack, discovered a little stowaway. 

"Julia? You're here?" asked Alex. 

"Yes I am here. I wanna stay with you." 

"Aww, why not?" 

And she did. That was when he realized something about his car. 

"Uh, didn't we park our things in a no parkin' zone?" mentioned Jenny. 

"Uh oh," smiled Lorraine as she and Alex headed back to the warp to Castlevania. "And we haven't figured out who's gotta pay for dinner and a movie!" 

"Oh, no, not that!" he yelled. "You keep an eye on Julia. I've got a score to settle with Lorrie here!" 

"Here we go again!" smiled Armand, watching the two tear down the path to the warp. 

GAME OVER 


End file.
